Campaign

Pennsylvania Republicans sue to overturn new district map

by Ben Kamisar - 02/22/18 4:27 PM ET

A group of Pennsylvania Republican congressmen are joining a lawsuit that challenges the new congressional district maps drawn by the state Supreme Court earlier this week.

Reps. Ryan Costello, Mike Kelly, Tom Marino, Scott Perry, Keith Rothfus, Lloyd Smucker and Glenn Thompson have all joined the federal lawsuit, which claims that state lawmakers were not given “adequate” time to enact their own district lines after the court struck the old lines down last month.

The court struck down the current congressional map in January, claiming it represented an unconstitutional gerrymander. Democrats have long bristled at the fact that the party holds just five seats out of the 18 in the state delegation despite the party’s strength in statewide elections, and have argued that the GOP-controlled legislature unfairly drew the lines to limit the Democratic Party’s power.

As part of that decision, the court gave state lawmakers less than three weeks to come to an agreement with the governor on the new maps.

Republican leaders in the legislature sent Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf their map at that deadline, but he declined to sign it, arguing it did not go far enough to address the concerns laid out by the court.

In the case, the plaintiffs argue that the compressed timeline showed that “the court was plainly intent on usurping the General Assembly’s delegated authority” to draw congressional district lines.

The new map is a political boon for Democrats, since it dramatically redraws the district lines and gives the party a better shot in six congressional seats. Costello, specifically, stands to lose out with the new lines — his district will become significantly more Democratic assuming the new lines go into effect.

Citing nonpartisan election analysts in the suit, the plaintiffs argue that “far from being free of politics, it appears that every choice made in the Court Drawn Plan was to pack Republicans into as few districts as possible, while advantaging Democrats.”

It’s the second legal challenge by lawmakers to the district map — state Republican leaders filed an emergency stay with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to ask for relief.