An Appellate Division Court ruled Thursday that New York's Independent Redistricting Commission can go ahead and draw a new congressional map. In the 3-2 decision, the court ruled the commission had the duty under the state Constitution to submit a second set of maps after the first set was rejected last year.

The commission failed to reach an agreement on new maps for 2022, which led the Democrat-controlled state Legislature to step in and draw their own lines.

Those maps would have given Democrats a strong majority in 22 of the state's 26 congressional districts.

Republicans sued over the maps and accused Democrats of gerrymandering.

Last April, the State Court of Appeals, which is New York's top court, ruled the Legislature lacked the authority to redraw the lines and ordered a special master to draw the map, which was ultimately used during the 2022 House election cycle.

That map helped Republicans gain control of seats in New York, including in New York 17th and 19th districts.

About one-third of Republican gains in the House in 2022 came from New York.

Following the decision, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene wrote in part of a statement, "After last year's Republican power grab resulted in an out-of-state special master drawing a map that was rubber-stamped by a partisan judge, today's decision by the New York Court is a reaffirmation that the will of the voters should be respected when it comes to drawing fair maps."

House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and NYGOP Chair Ed Cox released a joint statement that read in part, "The Appellate Division majority's conclusion guts the New York Constitution's explicit prohibition against mid-decade redistricting. When Democrats can't compete, they cheat."