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Jonathan Cervas
Assistant Teaching Professor
Email · 412-268-2900

News coverage and mentions. This list is updated continuously and may include forthcoming coverage.

Featured

How a Mapmaker Became New York’s Most Unexpected Power Broker

The New York Times

Jonathan Cervas, a Pittsburgh-born postdoctoral fellow and independent redistricting expert, was appointed as special master to redraw New York’s congressional and state senate maps after the Democratic-drawn maps were struck down as unconstitutional. His maps, praised by Republicans and anti-gerrymandering groups but criticized by Democrats, have upended the political landscape by forcing tough primaries and reshaping minority representation in New York City. Though thrust into the spotlight, Cervas insists he was simply applying the law and serving democracy, not politics.

Read at The New York Times →

Jonathan Cervas’ quest to make government represent the voters

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jonathan Cervas, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon, has quickly risen to prominence as a redistricting specialist, playing key roles in both Pennsylvania’s legislative maps and New York’s high-stakes congressional and state senate redrawing. Trained under noted scholar Bernard Grofman, Cervas emphasizes fairness, neutrality, and voter empowerment, viewing redistricting as both art and science in balancing competing democratic values. Though criticized by some politicians, he sees his work as vital to protecting undiluted votes and strengthening democracy at a moment when gerrymandering and partisan manipulation threaten it.

Read at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette →

What to know about Bernard Grofman and Jonathan Cervas, Wisconsin's new map consultants

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Bernard Grofman, a UC-Irvine political scientist, and Jonathan Cervas, a Carnegie Mellon postdoctoral fellow and redistricting expert, were appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review and possibly redraw the state’s legislative maps. Both are regarded as nonpartisan specialists with extensive experience in redistricting cases across the country, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. Tasked with ensuring population equality, compliance with the Voting Rights Act, and neutrality regarding partisan advantage, they could recommend adjustments to submitted proposals-or create their own maps—though their role has sparked criticism from some justices who argue the decision hands too much power to unelected outsiders.

Read at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel →

Who is the man tasked with redrawing New York’s new district lines?

City & State New York

Jonathan Cervas, a Carnegie Mellon postdoctoral fellow and redistricting expert, was appointed by a New York court as special master to redraw the state’s congressional and senate maps after the previous ones were struck down. Though not widely known, he brings extensive experience from redistricting work in Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Georgia, where he earned praise for fairness and technical skill. This marks his first time leading the process solo, and his academic background in political science and mapping technology underscores his reputation as a nonpartisan specialist focused on strengthening democracy.

Read at City & State New York →

New York’s Redistricting Master Holds Key to Congressional Power

Bloomberg Government

Jonathan Cervas was appointed by a New York court as special master to redraw the state’s congressional and state Senate district lines after the Democratic-drawn maps were struck down. With a tight deadline and high national stakes-since New York’s maps could influence control of the U.S. House-Cervas is tasked with producing constitutionally sound, ostensibly neutral districts that will last a decade. Drawing on his background working on redistricting cases in several states under renowned expert Bernard Grofman, Cervas is widely described by scholars, advocates, and attorneys as nonpartisan, technically skilled, and attentive to legal constraints and public input. While his past work has not satisfied all political actors, observers largely expect him to act as an “honest broker,” consistent with the broader pattern of court-appointed special masters producing relatively fair maps.

Read at Bloomberg Government →

Media Mentions

2026

May 27, 2026 — Bloomberg Government: South Carolina GOP Ran Into Electoral Reality on Redistricting, by Alexandra Samuels
May 19, 2026 — The Globe and Mail: Mapping how Alberta’s electoral boundary changes could reshape the political landscape, by Matthew Scace, Dexter Mcmillan, and Graphics By Murat Yükselir
May 13, 2026 — Bloomberg Government: Clyburn District Survives for Now as S.C. Republicans Buck Trump, by Greg Giroux
May 6, 2026 — Bloomberg Government: Tennessee Republicans Pitch House Map to Oust Lone Democrat, by Alexandra Samuels and Andrew Oxford
May 4, 2026 — AP News: Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all political combat that’s straining American democracy, by Nicholas Riccardi
May 4, 2026 — Votebeat: Here’s where redistricting stands after Florida’s new congressional map and the Supreme Court’s Callais decision, by Nathaniel Rakich
April 30, 2026 — AP News: Supreme Court ruling will reshape American politics. The only question is when, by Nicholas Riccardi
April 30, 2026 — AP News: Supreme Court weakens the Voting Rights Act and aids GOP efforts to control the House, by Mark Sherman
January 30, 2026 — Harlem World: Coastal Power Shift: New York, California Set To Lose Six Congressional Seats Post‑2030
January 29, 2026 — Deseret News: How population growth is quietly redrawing America’s political map, by Brigham Tomco
January 28, 2026 — Politico: Democrats could face an uphill Electoral College after 2030, new projections show, by Andrew Howard
January 28, 2026 — Fox News: Bombshell Census projections show Republicans could win White House without Rust Belt ‘Blue Wall’, by Paul Steinhauser
January 28, 2026 — The Christian Post: Red states vs. blue states: Who will gain seats after the next Census, by Ryan Foley
January 28, 2026 — Target 12 (WPRI): https://www.wpri.com/target-12/charts-migration-fuels-ris-population-growth-as-deaths-outnumber-births/, by Eli Sherman, Ted Nesi
January 28, 2026 — The Center Square: Census projections show red states to see gains in U.S. House seats, electoral college, by Andrew Rice

2025

April 29, 2025 — New York Post: California’s Prop 50 plans thrown into chaos after bombshell Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana: experts, by Titus Wu
December 11, 2025 — VOTEBEAT: A big question looming over future redistricting: Who should count? A Republican push to exclude all or some noncitizens raises important questions about political power and representation, especially in Texas., by Natalia Contreras
December 04, 2025 — Dan Abrams (((SiriusXM))): Gerrymandering Backfire? National Expert Declares Democrats Actually Winning Redistrict War
November 30, 2025 — ABC News: Republicans started the redistricting war, but will they win it?, by Benjamin Siegel
- Cervas also criticized both parties for revisiting maps for political gain in ways that could leave voters with fewer competitive districts in which to cast votes. "The people are losing. Every time we gerrymander for partisan gain, voters are worse off," he added. "A minus plus a minus is a bigger minus."
November 19, 2025 — AP: Why Trump’s plan to help GOP keep control of the House could backfire, by Nicholas Riccardi
- Incumbents also don’t like losing voters who have supported them or getting wholly new communities drawn into their districts, said Jonathan Cervas, who teaches redistricting at Carnegie Mellon University and has drawn new maps for courts.
- Cervas said that’s why it was striking to watch Trump push Republicans to dive into mid-decade redistricting. “The idea they’d go along to get along is basically crazy,” he said.
Oct 16, 2025 — AP: Supreme Court case could lead to loss of Black representation in Congress, but the scope is unknown, by Matt Brown, Gary Fields, and Nicholas Riccardi
- Even without the Voting Rights Act, Cervas said, there is no way for Republicans to make that Memphis seat red. If they scattered the city's voters among neighboring GOP-heavy districts, they might make those competitive.
- He said some other GOP-controlled states, such as Missouri and South Carolina, are in similar binds with their lone, heavily Democratic seats that were drawn to comply with the voting law. Others, like Georgia, are so politically competitive that it’s likely Republicans couldn't erase a Democratic seat in one part of the state without jeopardizing one of their own.
- Still other GOP-controlled states, such as Mississippi, may have an easier time eliminating their lone Democratic, Voting Rights Act-mandated seat. And in larger states such as North Carolina and Florida, Republicans would have a freer hand to redraw the maps to favor their party without having to preserve majority-minority seats held by Democrats.
Oct 7, 2025 — AP: Democrats could have a slight shot at flipping a US House seat in Utah under a new congressional map, by Hannah Schoenbaum
- Jonathan Cervas, a redistricting expert at Carnegie Mellon University, ran data from past elections in Utah against the redrawn map and found that Democrats would lose every time. That indicates that the map is uncompetitive, he said.
- “Although it’s not as competitive as I think the plaintiffs would want, I think it’s far better than the map that currently exists - a stark improvement,” Cervas said.
Oct 1, 2025 — City & State PA: What America’s ongoing redistricting war could mean for Pennsylvania Pennsylvania is unlikely to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, but that doesn’t negate the need for redistricting reforms, advocates say.
- “There’s one special reason why there’s not going to be anything in Pennsylvania, and that’s because Pennsylvania is one of only, I think, two states in the country that has a divided government,” said Jonathan Cervas, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in redistricting and voting rights. “There’s been a stalemate on even passing the basic state budget. So the idea that we would have an agreement from both branches of the legislature and the governor on a new redistricting plan seems very unlikely – exceedingly unlikely.”
- “You could imagine that maybe Republicans pick up a couple of seats in the House, and they're running a formidable candidate for governor, Stacy Garrity. She could win, and then they would have a united government,” Cervas said. He added that such a dynamic in Harrisburg could change the appetite for exploring the possibility of a new map in the middle of the decade. However, that scenario wouldn’t be feasible until after the 2026 midterms, and redrawing congressional districts before then would do little to help vulnerable incumbents.
Aug 23, 2025 — Straight Arrow News: Texas’ new congressional map heads to Gov. Abbott’s desk
- “In addition to a potential violation of the Voting Rights Act, this might be viewed in federal court as an intentional act to decrease minority representation, which would be a violation of the 14th Amendment,” Cervas said.
- Cervas described the new map as “perhaps the most biased map in modern American history.” … “Nearly 100% of the population growth in Texas has come from minority populations,” Cervas said…
Aug 21, 2025 — The Texas Tribune: Lawmakers are debating GOP congressional maps. What does redistricting mean for Texans?
Aug 8, 2025 — Salon: GOP power grab puts voting rights advocates in a bind
Aug 5, 2025 — The Hill: California, New York signal they’re moving forward with redistricting
Jul 15, 2025 — Here & Now, NPR: Texas is weighing a new plan for redistricting as part of a special summer session
Mar 20, 2025 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PG Politics: What 2021 turnout…
Mar 6, 2025 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PG Politics: What to make of…

2024

Sep 19, 2024 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Curiosity and controversy…
Dec 10, 2024 — : Across Political Divides: Jonathan Cervas Bridges Ideological Differences with Discussions and Data
Oct 6, 2024 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: How to avoid getting misled by political polls
Jun 24, 2024 — PBS Wisconsin: Wisconsin taxpayers to pay half of redistricting consultant costs.
Feb 9, 2024 — WPR: Wisconsin Republicans seek to subpoena Supreme Court redistricting consultants.
Feb 1, 2024 — PBS Wisconsin: Redistricting experts tell Wisconsin Supreme Court that Republican district map proposals are gerrymanders.
Feb 1, 2024 — AP News: Redistricting experts submit $128K bill for review of Wisconsin legislative maps
Jan 4, 2024 — WPR: Consultants hired to oversee Wisconsin redistricting could get up to $100K apiece.
Jan 23, 2024 — : Redrawing Lines: Jonathan Cervas Evaluates Wisconsin's Legislative Maps

2023

Dec 22, 2023 — WPR: Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns Republican-drawn legislative maps
Aug 18, 2023 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Strange bedfellows…
May 14, 2023 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The race for Allegheny County executive…
Feb 1, 2023 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The 2023 primary elections…

2022

Sep 4, 2022 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Jonathan Cervas’ quest to make government represent the voters.
Jul 19, 2022 — Washington Monthly: The Man Behind New York’s Controversial Congressional Map.
Jun 3, 2022 — Albany Times Union: State to pay $147,000…
May 29, 2022 — The Hill: Gerrymandering, a legal form of vote stealing, more entrenched now than ever
May 21, 2022 — THE CITY: Final New York District Maps…
May 21, 2022 — PoliticsNY: Final congressional and senate district maps set.
May 17, 2022 — Wall Street Journal: New York’s Gerrymander Boomerang…
May 16, 2022 — THE CITY: Special Master Carves Up…
May 16, 2022 — NY1: New congressional maps shake up New York politics.
May 9, 2022 — Bloomberg Government: New York’s Redistricting Master Holds Key…
Apr 29, 2022 — NY1: Special master has to act fast…
Apr 28, 2022 — City & State New York: Who is the man tasked with redrawing New York’s new district lines?
Apr 28, 2022 — New York Post: Control of Congress could hinge on this redistricting ‘special master’ in NY
- “I am thrilled to assist the New York courts in delivering constitutional maps that will provide equal representation for all New York residents for the next decade,” Cervas said in a brief statement to The Post.
April 27, 2022 — The New York Times: Democrats Lose Control of N.Y. Election Maps, as Top Court Rejects Appeal, by Nicholas Fandos
- Justice McAllister has already appointed Jonathan Cervas, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, as special master to draw the congressional and State Senate lines by late May.
Apr 21, 2022 — UC Irvine Social Sciences: Meet the scholar redistricting New York: UCI alumnus Jonathan Cervas named special master.

2021

Oct 28, 2021 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Despite transparency vows…
Jul 13, 2021 — Pennsylvania LRC (official): Appointment of Dr. Jonathan R. Cervas as mapping consultant.
Aug 2021 — Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Pa. redistricting is poised to be transparent…
Aug. 11, 2021 — The New York Times: Let the Gerrymandering (and the Legal Battles) Begin, by Nick Corasaniti
- “I am up late at night often, unable to sleep, pondering how bad or how aggressive some of those states might be in undoing the protections that were granted from Section 5 that no longer are in effect,” said Jonathan Cervas, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University who studies gerrymandering. “And I can imagine that a particularly aggressive legislature, where it benefits them, may not draw minority districts.”
- While diluting the votes of minority communities remains illegal, Mr. Cervas said that without preclearance, such tactics could be used anyway, and that the resulting legal challenges were increasingly unlikely to be resolved in time to affect the 2022 elections.
Jan 31, 2021 — The New York Times: House Mapping Is Next Conflict In Power Battle (Also found under the headline "The Gerrymander Battles Loom, as G.O.P. Looks to Press Its Advantage"), by Reid J. Epstein and Nick Corasaniti
- "Some election experts argued that Republicans were so successful at drawing gerrymandered maps 10 years ago that it would be difficult for them to add to their advantage now.
- “The Democrats were able to win the House in 2018 despite the fact that there were some very gerrymandered states,” said Jonathan Cervas, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University who studies gerrymandering."

2020

Oct 25, 2020 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: In race between Conor Lamb and Sean Parnell…

2018

November 2, 2018 — USA Today: Midterms: Races for governor, statehouses will help decide control of Congress for a decade, by Gregory Korte

New York Daily News

Editorials

March 9, 2026 — A Supreme Court win for a fair map: The Staten Island congressional district stays in place
May 17, 2022 — What democracy looks like: New lines for Congress and state Senate are far superior
April 20, 2022 — Draw a line, judges: A five-jurist appellate panel must strike down hyperpartisan maps
May 19, 2022 — Power to the voters: Newly drawn districts are a boon to New Yorkers
May 22, 2022 — Mapping a fair election: The new congressional and state Senate districts enhance democracy
May 23, 2022 — Love the Constitution, not politics: Justice Larry Love must void the Assembly maps pronto
June 8, 2022 — Draw new lines now: The courts must finish the job and order redrawn state Assembly maps
June 15, 2022 — N.Y.’s unconstitutional Assembly: Albany’s brazen ploy against the voters and the law
September 16, 2022 — Drawing the Assembly lines: It’s a job for the courts, not a disbanded ‘independent’ commission
November 11, 2022 — Tripping on the lines: New York’s overreaching Democratic redistricters have only themselves to blame for Tuesday’s results
November 15, 2023 — Leave the maps alone: The N.Y. Court of Appeals should be hands off on redistricting
February 16, 2024 — Leave the maps alone: N.Y. congressional districts should stay about the same
February 29, 2024 — Redistricting’s final chapter: The Dems fought a damaging and costly fight for nothing
October 1, 2024 — The fairest in the land: New York has the most competitive House districts in America
November 11, 2024 — Fair lines, fair elections: Flipped results with repeat candidates makes the case
August 4, 2025 — N.Y. must skip the Texas two-step: Don’t fool with mid-decade redistricting
January 23, 2026 — No redistricting for Staten Island: Leave the current lines in place
February 23, 2026 — Don’t mess with N.Y.’s elections: U.S. Supreme Court has to end congressional redistricting

Other Coverage

May 17, 2022 — New York’s redrawn congressional maps spark interest among state lawmakers
April 28, 2022 — New York GOP politicians cheer court for tossing Democratic-friendly redistricting map
April 28, 2022 — The Court of Appeals tossed New York’s congressional maps and threw the primary season into turmoil. What’s next?
April 29, 2022 — New lawsuit to call on courts to also toss New York’s Democratic-drawn Assembly districts
April 29, 2022 — N.Y. state senate and congressional primaries move to August 23
May 2, 2022 — Judge to review additional legal challenge against New York’s Dem-drawn Assembly maps
May 6, 2022 — N.Y. voters, lawyers make final arguments as ‘special master’ set to redraw state election maps
May 11, 2022 — New York Assembly map upheld for 2022 elections, faring better than congressional map
May 16, 2022 — Map mayhem for New York Democrats as new congressional and state Senate boundaries revealed
May 17, 2022 — New York should be angry about these new congressional maps
May 17, 2022 — New York’s redrawn congressional maps spark interest among state lawmakers
May 18, 2022 — Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio poised to run for Congress, announces exploratory committee
May 21, 2022 — New York congressional and state Senate maps finalized by upstate court
May 21, 2022 — Redrawn congressional lines dividing Democrats, ‘earthquake’ for New York politics