A New York appeals court yesterday ordered the state’s congressional map to be redrawn, siding with Democrats in a case that could give the party a fresh chance to tilt one of the nation’s most contested House battlegrounds back toward Democrats. Via the New York Times:

Wading into a long-simmering legal dispute, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Albany said that the competitive, court-drawn districts put in place for last year’s midterms had only been a temporary fix.

They ordered the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission to promptly restart a process that would effectively give the Democrat-dominated State Legislature final say over the contours of New York’s 26 House seats for the remainder of the decade.

“In granting this petition, we return the matter to its constitutional design. Accordingly, we direct the I.R.C. to commence its duties forthwith,” Elizabeth A. Garry, the presiding justice, wrote in the majority opinion, referring to the Independent Redistricting Commission. (Two members of the five-judge panel dissented.)

Republicans vowed to appeal, leaving a final decision to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, just a year after it stopped an earlier attempt by Democrats to gerrymander the maps.

So the state's 10-member bipartisan redistricting commission will get first crack. But who in their right mind would set up a 10-member, evenly divided commission? Andrew Cuomo, famous for back-door deals with Republicans. So we could see another deadlock close to the deadline for petitioning early next year.

If the Republicans on the commission make a big show of agreeing on a "compromise" map tilted toward them, the Dems may feel pressured to support it.

But there will be public hearings, and that's the time to stiffen Democratic spines. Remember, Republicans are only 22% of the New York state electorate, with Democrats close to 50%. The rest are independents, and two-thirds lean Democratic. The map should lean that way.