Terrible plan
Terrible plan
GOP ripped for redistricting plan
Any doubts that Republican legislators were truly interested in open government and concerned about only about the welfare of their constituents were erased with the passage of their congressional redistricting plan.
First and foremost, the plan, which awaits the expected signature of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, was rushed through at the last minute without any input from the public.
But just as important, the Republicans were blatant about their plans for political domination across the state as they redrew the lines for congressional districts solely with their own political agenda in mind.
Any thoughts about fair representation for residents of the commonwealth were shoved aside in the GOP push to control as many seats as possible in the U.S. House of Representatives. All this despite Democrats holding a big edge in voter registration numbers over Republicans in Pennsylvania.
All over the state, Democrats found themselves disenfranchised and marginalized, and that certainly was the case here in both Fayette and Greene counties.
Under the new map, all of Fayette County plus parts of eastern Greene and Washington counties will be part of the new 9th congressional district represented by U.S. Rep. William “Bill” Shuster.
The district, which extends all the way to Harrisburg, includes much of southcentral Pennsylvania and is dominated by Republicans. The rub is that it won’t matter how residents here vote in upcoming congressional elections. No candidate from here will have a fair chance of winning and no Democrat, period, will stand the ghost of a chance of capturing the seat.
So, Fayette and Greene counties, which are dominated by Democrats, will almost certainly have a Republican representative in Congress for at least the next 10 years. And that’s just not fair for the majority of local residents.
It’s true that Shuster has done a fair to middling job of representing about a quarter of the county for the past 10 years.
But most of the county still was represented by a Democrat and there seemed to be something fair about the county being represented by both parties in Congress.
But that concept has gone by the wayside with the entire county being represented by Shuster. And there’s no doubt that the way the district is configured, he’ll find it even tougher to do a good job of representing our area. If he tries to moderate his views somewhat to please local residents, he’ll likely come under fire by residents in other parts of the district and if he strays far enough away from the GOP gospel, he could well find himself with a primary challenger. So, he’ll find himself having to cozy up to the hardliners in his party no matter how much he wants to do right by local residents.
For the first time since anyone can remember, Greene County will be divided into two congressional districts, diluting the political power and strength of residents there. And to boot, the county, which is dominated by Democrats, will be represented by not just one but two Republicans. The central and western sections of the county will now be represented by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy. And that district has been changed around to ensure that Murphy, or some other Republican, will be able to hold the seat til at least 2020.
All this teeth-gnashing could have been avoided if the Republicans had simply looked at the map and put all of Somerset and Cambria counties into Shuster’s district and put Fayette, Greene and Washington counties into Murphy’s district as they were many years prior to 1990.
Republican legislators could have even put parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties into the district if more GOP numbers were needed. But at least then, we would have been in a district with residents with similar concerns and issues. And Fayette County residents could have played a key role in congressional elections.
But for whatever reason, that’s not the case. And Fayette County residents should be boiling mad over these political tricks. The question now is how did we get in this mess? Our Democratic lawmakers certainly had nothing to do with this plan. They were helpless as the GOP controls both the House and Senate by considerable margins.
One person, who comes quickly to mind, is Gov. Corbett, who won the popular vote last November in both Fayette and Greene counties. While there’s nothing local residents can do to the Republican leaders in both the House and Senate, who hatched the plan, there is something they can do to Gov. Corbett when he seeks re-election.
They should show him the same concern and support he showed them by backing this disastrous and ill-conceived redistricting plan.