State lawmakers to vote on amended redistricting proposal
HARRISBURG – State lawmakers are proposing changes to the boundaries of congressional districts in order to bring them in line with a recent federal court order. The state Legislature as early as Monday will vote on an amended congressional district map that is very similar to the map rejected by a federal court last Monday. Fayette County will see minor changes under the new map.
“This plan makes no [significant] changes from the original setup of the districts,” said Stephen Drachler, spokesman for House Majority Leader John Perzel (R-Philadelphia), who proposed the new map. “What it does is make changes around the edges. It massages the edges so the districts come out even.”
State lawmakers are redrawing the boundaries for the state’s congressional districts as a result of the 2000 U.S. Census. The state, which has 21 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, is losing two seats as a result of reapportionment. The Legislature earlier passed a new congressional map.
But a three-judge panel ruled that that map is unconstitutional, in violation of the one man, one vote principle, because the largest congressional district had 19 more residents than the smallest district.
The federal panel refused to suspend its order Friday, and Republican legislative leaders vowed to take their request for a stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just in case their appeal fails, GOP lawmakers have drawn a new map that they say complies with the court’s demands.
Any new map must be passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Mark Schweiker, who is also a Republican. Wednesday is the earliest day a new map could be adopted.
Under the proposed new map, 71,000 people statewide will be shifted from one congressional district to another to achieve the court’s requirement of zero deviation among the state’s 19 congressional district populations. In addition, no precincts are split under the new map. The original map split six precincts in the state, which judges criticized.
Like the original map, the new map divides Fayette into two congressional districts. The southeastern part of the county will fall into the 9th District, which will include most of southcentral Pennsylvania. The 12th District will include Fayette’s western and northernmost communities. The contorted district also will include all of Greene County and parts of Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Somerset and Washington counties.
The new map makes only one change to Fayette County. Nicholson Township’s first voting district, which was located in the 12th District on the original map, will now be part of the 9th District. Some small changes were made in neighboring counties.
In the 9th District, U.S. Rep Bud Shuster, David Bahr and David Keller are all running in the May 21 Republican primary. The winner faces Democrat John Henry in November’s general election.
In the 12th District, U.S. Reps Frank Mascara and John Murtha face each other in the Democratic primary. The winner faces Republican Bill Choby in November.
Because of the uncertainty over whether the districts will change, lawmakers also are considering postponing the rapidly approaching primary. If the primary is postponed, new candidates may file petitions to enter the race, GOP officials said.
Perzel expects his new map to pass, his spokesman said.
“The Senate Republicans and House Republicans are in agreement on this map,” Drachler said. “We expect there will be substantial bipartisan support on it.”
He added, “When we bring things to the floor [for a vote], they pass.”
Democrats could block the new map from being passed, but it will be difficult. Although Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate, not all GOP lawmakers in the House supported the original map. The plan passed only after some Democrats crossed party lines to support it.
Some Democratic votes in the House probably will be required once again to pass the new plan, Democratic leaders said. But in order to block the new map from passing, Democrats will have to be unified, and that’s not an easy task.
“The last time we passed a plan, part of the problem was some of the congressional Democratic members were for the Republican plan because it was helpful to their individual districts and they were asking our members to vote for the plan,” said House Minority Whip Michael Veon (D-Beaver). “It’s very hard to have the Pennsylvania House Democrats unified and voting the same way if the Pennsylvania congressional Democrats are supporting different plans.”
The redistricting is expected to transform Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation from one that has 11 Republican seats and 10 Democratic seats to one that would give the GOP an edge of 13-6 or 14-5, political analysts said.