In a 4-3 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court picked the map that was put forward by some Democratically aligned voters that divides the state 8-8 with one swing district.
No Gerrymandering In New Pennsylvania Map
Via: The AP:
Pennsylvania’s highest court broke a partisan deadlock Wednesday over a new map of congressional districts by selecting new boundaries that broadly adhere to the outlines of current districts, even as the state loses one seat because of sluggish population growth.
The Democratic-majority state Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, picked a 17-district map that had been proposed by a group of Democratic-aligned voters who sued last year in an effort to get the court involved.
The Map Was Drawn To Be Fair
Jonathan Rodden, a political science professor at Stanford University who drew the map wrote, “This level of partisan balance and competitiveness is similar to that of the existing plan, reflective of Pennsylvania’s statewide partisan preferences, and consistent with changes in population as they relate to partisanship.”
Partisan skew might give Republicans a slight advantage according to some experts, but by all metrics, the PA map is fair.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Pennsylvania by 600,000, which the Republican advantage being in the rural center of the state. Democrats strongly outnumber Republicans in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
The future problem for Pennsylvania Republicans is that their rural stronghold is rapidly losing population. The decline in the state’s population came from the rural middle. It cost Pennsylvania a congressional district in the new census, which is the new map’s merging to two rural Republican congressional districts.
Republicans will not have the House handed to them through a gerrymander in Pennsylvania. Keystone state voters are the big winners as they will have a congressional map that accurately represents them.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association