U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is running for reelection, speaks at a GOP rally in Saranac Lake Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Northern Saratoga County, including the village of Schuylerville where Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik lives, has been redrawn into the 20th Congressional District where Rep. Paul Tonko will run for re-election, under final congressional redistricting maps finalized late Friday.

Stefanik announced in a statement Saturday that she will continue to run in the 21st District, which would involve relocating her principal residence into the newly drawn district.

“I look forward to running for re-election in NY-21 where I have been honored and humbled to earn historic support every election cycle. I will always work my very hardest to deliver real results for the hardworking families in Upstate New York and the North Country,” Stefanik said in a statement.

Tonko has previously said he will run in the new 20th District, which would involve relocating his principal residence.

Amsterdam, where Tonko now lives, was redrawn into the new 21st District, where Stefanik is running for re-election.

All of Saratoga County is now in the new 20th District, along with Albany and Schenectady counties, and the cities of Troy and Rensselaer in Rensselaer County, under the final maps that court-appointed expert Jonathan Cervas, of Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh, drew.

“Residents of Saratoga, Schenectady and Albany counties — and the city of Troy — will benefit from a unified voice in Congress next year. I am thankful for that, but I am deeply disappointed that the ‘Special Master’ creates an incomplete congressional district for the Capital Region by excluding the city of Amsterdam,” Tonko said in a statement.

The rest of Rensselaer County, among other areas, was added to the new 21st District.

The mayors of Albany, Amsterdam, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy held a press conference on Wednesday, in advance of the maps being finalized, to criticize splitting up the five Capital District cities into separate congressional districts.

Their request was mostly heeded.

Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy are in the new 20th District, while Amsterdam is in the new 21st District.

“In his commentary on the Capital Region, the ‘Special Master’ (court-appointed expert) makes clear that in drawing the maps he prioritized arbitrary political boundaries over the way people actually work, live, and play,” Tonko said. “This does not make for a fairer map or a more representative district. As the outpouring of feedback this week showed, citizens of Amsterdam are fully part of our Capital Region community, regardless of what one post-grad from Pennsylvania thinks.”

The maps replace maps that the state Legislature adopted and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed in February. Those maps carved out Glens Falls and Queensbury in Warren County and moved those communities into the 20th Congressional District.

A state Supreme Court judge in late March threw out the Legislature’s plan, saying the maps were unfairly drawn to give an advantage to the Democratic Party.

Matt Castelli, one of two candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Stefanik, reiterated Saturday he will run in the new 21st District.

“Our district has become more competitive for the right kind of Democrat, one who can unify a broad coalition of support across the now 15 counties that make up NY-21,” Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official from the town of Saratoga, said in a press release.

Actually, the district may be less competitive, depending on the comparison.

The final 21st District has a 14.54 percentage-point Republican enrollment advantage, according to Cervas, the court-appointed expert who drew the maps, a fraction less than the maps that the state Legislature had adopted in February, and a state Supreme Court judge overturned.

The current 21st District has an 11.54 percentage-point Republican enrollment advantage.

Castelli, too, would have to relocate into the 21st District before taking office, if he wins the general election.

Matt Putorti, the other Democratic candidate, reiterated Saturday that he is a candidate in the 21st District.

“Maps are final. I’m proud to announce that I will continue to run in NY-21,” Putorti, a lawyer from Whitehall, posted on Twitter.

Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser to Stefanik, said in a statement that the new 21st District is covered by four media markets, Albany, Plattsburgh/Burlington, Watertown and Utica, one more than in previous campaigns.

“Democrats will have to spend more than ever before to try to get their name out,” he said.

Stefanik had $2.84 million in her campaign fund, as of March 31, the most recent report to the Federal Election Commission.

Castelli had $431,682 and Putorti $244,190 in their respective campaign funds, as of March 31.

In the 20th District, Liz Lemery Joy, a former blogger and speaker from Schenectady, is challenging Tonko.

The final 20th Congressional District has a 16.42 percentage-point Democratic enrollment advantage, according to Cervas, compared with 19 percentage points in the current 20th District.

Considered as a whole, statewide, the maps are more favorable to Republicans than the maps that the Legislature adopted in February.

The Democratic-drawn maps would have given their party a strong majority in 22 of 26 congressional districts.

The final lines create five Republican-leaning districts, up from four, and at least four other districts where Republicans would be competitive.

In the New York City area, the court-appointed expert made some revisions to proposed maps to alleviate some of the concerns that were raised that the maps divided communities of cultural and racial interests.

“The maps now reflect a deeper understanding of minority and other communities. Ultimately, as he (the court-appointed expert) indicates, he valued compactness above all else,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of the public interest advocacy group Common Cause New York, in a press release.

Cervas said he had inadvertently proposed splitting Black communities in Brooklyn.

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State Senate districts

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Also on Friday, the court finalized new state Senate maps, which would alter the representation in Washington County.

The new 45th Senate District, where Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, is the incumbent, includes the northern tip of Washington County, all of Warren, Essex, Clinton and Franklin cou-

nties, and eastern St. Lawrence County.

The new 44th Senate District, where Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, is the incumbent, includes all of Saratoga County and a small portion of Schenectady County.

The new 43rd Senate District, which is an open seat, includes central and southern Washington County, all of Rensselaer Country and a small portion of Albany County.

Congressional and state legislative district boundaries are redrawn every 10 years, based on the latest census.

Congressional and state Senate primaries are scheduled for Aug. 23.

State Assembly, gubernatorial and lieutenant governor primaries are scheduled for June 28.

Voting in Assembly districts will be based on maps that the state Legislature adopted in February.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.