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Democrats seized control over drawing New Yorks congressional districts on Monday, rejecting a map proposed by the states bipartisan redistricting commission in favor of drafting new lines that could make key swing seats more Democratic.

On a day of high drama inside the State Capitol in Albany, party leaders argued that the Senate and Assembly had no choice but to reject the commission map in lopsided votes because it improperly split counties, broke up naturally occurring communities and favored incumbents.

But in private conversations, they made little effort to hide their true objective. With the battle for control of the House likely to run through New York this fall, Democrats here and in Washington are determined to use their supermajority in the State Legislature to tilt the playing field against Republicans from Long Island to Syracuse.

The exact contours of the replacement districts remained to be seen Monday afternoon. State lawmakers were expected to release a draft of the replacement map as soon as Monday evening, teeing up a vote to approve it later this week.