GOP win in Queens complicates redistricting

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Republican Bob Turner’s surprise win in the 9th Congressional District makes New York’s unpredictable redistricting outlook even murkier.

In the back-room deals that political parties controlling the state Senate and Assembly usually cut to redraw election district lines every 10 years, Democrats appeared ready to sacrifice the 9th Congressional District.

Republicans were expected to sacrifice one of their own seats upstate as part of a deal to cope with the loss of two congressional seats to faster growing states.

It would have been a tidy solution to please both parties.

But now the state Senate’s Republican majority might think it can hold on to the 9th Congressional district, which could force Democrats to sacrifice a different seat.