PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are out with their version of a new congressional map, one which would change districting in parts of Chester and Montgomery counties.
Republican House State Government Committee Chair Seth Grove said the map that will be introduced for consideration on Monday comes from Pennsylvania resident and redistricting advocate Amanda Holt.
Pennsylvania loses a Congressional seat based on the 2020 census.
Holt’s map combines two north central districts to make up for the lost seat.
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In southeastern Pennsylvania, Bucks County’s 1st Congressional District, held by Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, would pick up a larger sliver of the more-Republican northwestern Montgomery County.
Chester County would get chopped in in half. The 6th District currently held by Chrissy Houlahan would cover the top half of Chester County and the southeastern two-thirds of Berks County.
Southern Chester County would go into the 5th District with Delaware County and part of Southwest Philadelphia.
Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon represents the current 5th District.
Grove said the map is a starting point, and he expects there will be changes along the way.
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The leaders of the Senate State Government Committee are also expected to introduce a map.
Additional hearings on the House map will be held on December 9 at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, December 13 at 8 a.m. Both will be live-streamed at paredistricting.com.
The map has to pass both the Pennsylvania House and Senate and needs the governor’s approval. If the legislature and the governor end up deadlocked, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decides the maps.
Legislative maps for the state House and state Senate are drawn up and passed by a commission in a separate process.
The clock is ticking as nominating petitions start on February 15, and the primary is currently scheduled for May 17. The process was delayed as census data took longer than usual to get because of complications from the pandemic.
