PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The proposed Pennsylvania state House and Senate districts have been unveiled, and Republicans were not happy with the resulting maps.
The five-person commission voted to approve the maps for 203 House seats and 50 Senate seats, but the two Republicans on the commission both voted against the proposed House district map. The proposed Senate map passed 5-0.
House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre and Mifflin counties) called the map “extremely partisan gerrymandering” as he points to six Republican districts that would be combined, meaning 12 incumbent Republicans would be up against each other compared to four Democrats in two districts which they hold.
He also questioned why cities like Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Scranton and Allentown are split the way they are.
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“Sad to say the map before us is nothing short of danger to our system of government, as it upends established norms and emphasis on local control and local voices that Pennsylvanians hold dear," he said.
House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said the map simply adjusts for population and demographic changes over the past 10 years.
“The plan recognizes and accounts for population declines in the west, and the population growth in the southeast by creating three new house districts in Philadelphia, Lancaster and Montgomery Counties.”
An analysis of the map performed for House Republicans concluded it produced 104 to 107 Democratic-leaning districts, which would be eight to 10 seats more than typically emerged from computer simulations. The House majority requires 102 seats.
Legislative redistricting commission chairman and former Pitt Law School Dean Mark Nordenberg said they make no claim that their maps are perfect.
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“Instead, almost every time we take a look at them, we see something else that we could improve on.”
He said the maps reflected growing numbers of minorities as well as the geographic shifts among the population.
"It is inescapably true that when population changes require new maps, those maps invariably will affect incumbents, though that was not our goal," Nordenberg said.
Nordenberg said the House map had seven "minority opportunity" districts that would have no incumbents and more than 50% minority voters.
"There is no incumbent advantage that will have to be overcome in any of these districts, which would give minority communities residing in them a special opportunity," he said.
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For the past several decades, the post-census realignment has been controlled by Republicans, and they have generally maintained majority control in both chambers. The GOP currently holds the House, 113-90, as well as the Senate, 29-21.
Pennsylvania is arguably the most politically divided state in the nation, with the two major parties often splitting statewide votes. The 2020 presidential contest was razor close, with Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in the state by some 80,000 votes.
The existing Republican-drawn map has been in force since 2014's elections. During that time, Republicans have held majorities in both chambers - including some of the biggest majorities in a half-century - while Democrats won more statewide races, 19 to 11. Democrats have long held a statewide registration edge over Republicans, with currently 4 million to 3.4 million out of 8.7 million total registered voters.
The vote starts a 30-day public comment period. The commission then has 30 days to meet and finalize any changes based on public comment. Then any challenges would go to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Commission members said they want to stay on the January 24 timeline to avoid the cost and headache of having to reschedule the May 17 primary.
