St. Lawrence University Professor Emeritus Robert N. Wells wrote a letter to the editor saying that the state Senate's plan to expand from 62 seats to 63 is a Republican power grab.

Redistricting is a pet issue for Mr. Wells, who favors an independent panel that would redraw the state's political boundaries.

The state Senate did not take action on a law that would have given an independent panel the power to redraw the state's political boundaries. And now they're going to 63 seats for the sole purpose of keeping their slim edge in the state Senate — it now sits at 32 to 29, depending on how you do the math.

"Without this increase, Republicans would lose district population, particularly in those upstate districts losing prisoner population which are now to be counted in their residential districts," Mr. Wells wrote in his letter. "Hopefully, the governor and the Assembly will reject this gimmick and quash it."

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