Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were dealt an expected blow this week as the state Supreme Court unanimously declined to overturn a new state-House-district map.
Every 10 years, Pennsylvania’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC) must redraw the state’s 203 state legislative districts and 50 state senatorial districts to cohere with new population data reported by the U.S. Census. The five-member LRC is composed of the respective Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate as well as a chair appointment by the state Supreme Court. In the latest round of redistricting, Democrats effectively controlled the LRC, as the majority of justices on the court selected fellow Democrat Mark A. Nordenberg.
What the commission produced is a map that Republicans have criticized for containing too few competitive or moderate districts and creating more Democrat-leaning districts than actual population shifts would justify. GOP legislators cited an assessment by the nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project giving the initial draft of the new map an “F” grade on the matter of competitiveness.
While the LRC did make some adjustments that modestly aided Republicans after considering public comments, the broad effect of the map is still likely to cost the GOP some seats in the Philadelphia suburbs, particularly in Bucks County. Shortly after the panel finalized its decision last month, State Representative Meghan Schroeder (R-Warminster) announced she would not seek reelection after serving only two two-year terms. Though she didn’t say redistricting was the reason for her decision, her newly reapportioned district will be difficult for any Republican to win.
State House Republican Leader Kerry Benninghoff denounced the order by the Democrat-controlled state court affirming the plan.
“Today’s order reflects the Pennsylvania Supreme Court majority’s continued shift from a fair arbiter of fact and law to a rubber-stamp for liberal special interests and left-wing partisan political positions,” Benninghoff (R-Bellefonte) said in a statement.
The court’s decision does differ from many other recent redistricting rulings in the Keystone State insofar as it was unanimous. Neither Justice Sallie Mundy (R) nor Kevin Brobson (R) objected to the conclusion reached by their Democratic colleagues that the map satisfies constitutional requirements.
Democratic lawmakers lauded the decision.
“Today’s Supreme Court order declaring that the LRC plan complies in all respects with the Constitutions of Pennsylvania and the United States is an appropriate and welcomed validation of the LRC’s respect for the law and very hard work,” House Minority Leader Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said. “Pennsylvania’s new legislative maps are representative of the dramatic shifts in our population over the past 10 years and will help reverse a generation of gerrymandered legislative districts and protect the right of the people to fair and equal representation in state government.”
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kerry Benninghoff” by Kerry Benninghoff and photo “Pennsylvania House of Representatives by Concord CC BY-SA 4.0.
