MyDistricting | Pennsylvania
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Updated Preliminary Congressional Plan
View comments on the updated preliminary plan
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alexis mccarthy
I am against this map. Chester county should not be divided. It is a clear attempt to undermine Chrissy Houlihan as a candidate.
John Neefe
The proposed map is an obvious attempt to gain partisan advantage in the redistricting process. It plainly violates constitutional directives. Districts should be even in population and compact. They should avoid dividing other political entities like towns, townships, counties. They should not isolate and reassign minority-dominant areas in a way which tends to deprive them of representatives of their choosing.
John C Laumer
I am opposed to the redistricting proposal
Robin Young
I'm opposed to this re-districting plan
Art C
Why have you diluted voting population of the district. It clearly shows that all voting in Cumberland and Dauphin Counties is diluted by including northern counties with nothing in common with the area.
Leslie Dudt
I am opposed to this re-districting plan.
Tony Maalouf
It does a disservice to the people of Delaware County to draw them into a Congressional district with southern Philadelphia. The needs of city residents and not the same as the needs of their suburban Delaware County counterparts. For decades, this Delaware County-based district was shared with their Chester County neighbors, until the PA Supreme Court ordered the maps redrawn in 2018. Delaware County's ties to Chester County go all the back to the very creation of Delaware County. More overlap exists - in community organizations, school enrollments and sports leagues, between Delaware and Chester counties than between Delaware and Philadelphia counties. The two counties are further connected by the Delaware County College system, which serves young and adult learners from all parts of each county. Perhaps nothing bound the two counties together more than the COVID-19 pandemic, when Delaware County authorities worked with Chester County Public Health Officials to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. If Delco must be tied with another county in a new Congressional District, it should be Chesco, not Philly.
Nicholas Sufrinko
I’m a former resident with ties to and family in the Wyoming Valley. I understand Luzerne Co may need to be split, but this obvious gerrymander should not stand. The proposed boundary through the historically marginalized Wyoming Valley is drawn with complete disregard for economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries as well as the principles of fairness and equity. Clearly, this is just the latest in long list of examples of political elites exploiting working class folks in the Coal Region. This boundary should not be tolerated by any politician or organization promoting the general wellbeing and economic vitality of the region. Those who know the county know we do have obvious cultural, economic, and geographic boundaries within. Know them. Respect them. Nescopeck Mountain, for example, separates two large regions—Upper and Lower Luzerne—with municipal borders following the ridge. Likewise, Larksville Mountain separates the Wyoming Valley from the Back Mountain. An obvious solution is to keep Wyoming, Susquehanna, and Bradford Cos in District 9, thereby unifying the Susquehanna Valley and Endless Mountains in one district, while preserving a whole, intact Wyoming Valley from Glen Lyon to Carbondale in District 8 with the rest of the Poconos.
Amy M. Brady
The Commonwealth's constitution requires countys be kept in the same district, unless it is absolutely necessary to divide them. Chester County does not need to be divided. Leave it where it has been for years! Follow the constitution of our Commonwealth!
Stephen Boerger
This is just blatant gerrymandering
Linda Novack
Stop gerrymandering!!!
Anne Caterino
I oppose re-districting.
Bill Holmes
The Commonwealth shall be divided into 50 senatorial and 203 representative districts, which shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable. Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district. The Republicans comply with one Constitutional requirement and they’re patting themselves on their backs. The alleged law & order party cares little about obeying the law or maintaining order when it comes to our democracy.
Vera Robinson
All of Chester County is grouped together in the PA 6th Congressional District.
Christine Batchelor
Why split up Chester county and berks county? Removing the heavily minority section of Chester county from the rest of the county is an overt attempt to disenfranchise voters
Morton W Thomson
This Map and the resulting number of Representatives is UNLAWFUL! It is in complete violation of the Constitution FOR the united states of America and flies in the face of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, which CLEARLY states that "The number of Representatives SHALL NOT EXCEED one [Representative] for every thirty Thousand [inhabitants],.." What part of "shall not exceed" is confusing to you guys? Go here for the truth - constitutionclub.ning.com
Dawn DiLuigi
Keep Bucks County AS is…WHOLE! Keep District 1 WHOLE as is! Keep Northampton Twp WHOLE..as is!
Marie KANIA
Don't break up Chester County. This map has gerrymandered Chester County to reduce Chrissy Houlahan's chances for re-election.
Heddy Ginterreiter
stop the gerrymandering!
Michael Hagan
I oppose redistributing. It’s gerrymandering pure and simple.
Renee Perry Montag
I am pleased that the County of York has been kept in one district as we do have common interests. Not thrilled that Harrisburg is once again in district 10 along with York City.
Aimee Rodriguez
Please stop gerrymandering.
Aimee Rodriguez
Please stop gerrymandering.
Carol S Scatarige
Current map is clearly gerrymandered against the incumbent democrat.
Larry Ernest Long
With all due respect, this map is a mess. I can not speak to all of the state but only my area. Carbon, Luzerne, and Schulkill counties are tied culturally and economically to Monroe and Lackawanna. They have nothing in common with Sullivan, Tioga, and Potter. The needs of each of those groups are widely disparite. Bradford, on the other hand, has everything in common with Potter, Sullivan, and Tioga. Sorry, but this map isn't even close to correct. Simply balancing out the number of residents in each district is not the answer, economic and cultural ties are paramount. It might be best to start over and make a better effort.
Amee Feager Davis
I oppose redistricting!
Harriett Gaston
I hope that this is the best way to have representation as the population has decreased. I would hope that the "rural" counties realize that they need to be more welcoming and inclusive or those potential employers and employees or they will go to where they are welcome.
John Charles Scatarige
Do not like this revision. PA 6 partisan changes are designed to weaken Chrissy Houlihan, the incumbent.
Maria Yonchek
STOP GERRYMANDERING! There is absolutely NO reason to split the 6th District. Everyone sees what you're doing even though there are those that may agree because it benefits them, everyone knows it is wrong and anti-democratic. If the shoe was on the other foot, would those that benefit support this insanity?
Gail S Parmer
The Sixth Congressional District ain't broke, so don't try to FIX it. Stop this insulting gerrymandering NOW. How deaf, dumb and blind do we look? Dag.
Urvashi Patel
The gerrymandering of this state needs to end! We need representatives who represent the majority! This is a blatant ploy to keep that from happening and it needs to stop.
james Dinan
See no reason to split or divide the 178th Pa house district . This district is cohesive and funds and has excellent public services for all constituents regardless of party affiliation or the lack of it.
Amy Guskin
STOP DESTRUCTIVE GERRYMANDERING. All this revision of lines will do is make it harder for the Democrat to win in the next election, and since there are FAR more Dems here in the area, it's asinine to make us be represented by someone who does NOT represent us (I am an Independent, by the way). Partisan redistricting is anti-democracy, and this proposed revision is shameful. Eventually all of the citizens will be pushing at the gates of the Bastille over stupid, shortsighted bulls&*t like this.
Carol Meerschaert
All of Chester county should be one district. Stop trying to gerrymander our state!
Carol P Scott
Leave district 6 alone! We work together as a community here in Malvern/Willistown. Our representative in congress should represent that community and our interests. Chrissy Houlihan is one of the best congress People we have had in a long time. You split us up only to remove the threat. These maps need to be done by a non-partisan group. What kind of sense does it make when a state is evenly split between democrats and republicans, yet the GOP controls our legislature? That is not democracy.
James E McGraw
These changes are clearly designed to provide a political advantage.
PETER J DELAURIER
Leave the whole of Chester County in District 6. Why make yourselves into the laughingstock of the country with these bizarre, contorted districts?
Marty Laney
Please try again or leave as currently drawn.
Debra Charlesworth
Looks like a typical Republican gerrymandered proposal. Disgraceful.
Judy Meinkoth
Looks like gerrymandering again
William B Miller
It seems this is a classic Gerrymandering with the goal of strengthing the Republican hold on this region. The areas to the east have more commonalities with the municipalities to the south than they do to the west. Proper representation should focus on the regions and the needs of the population rather than voting propensities.
Caroline Bradley
ALL of Chester County needs to remain in the 6th District.
John M. Sheridan
This plan for my area clearly combines communities that have conflicting interests, while few commonalities. Economically, educationally, demographically, the areas included are so diverse to make it feasible for fair and appropriate representation. In addition, the zig zag of the boundaries to exclude and include certain communities makes clear the ultimate purpose is political - to give one political party a numbers advantage over another. Not that the other party had not done similar things. But it means its politics as usual rather than any attempt and looking for consensus while seeking the heal the country.
Matthew Reber
The attached documents includes my comments on these new districts
John Hess
I do not like the new map regarding PA-6 and PA-5. It is pretty clear the intent is to weaken the incumbent, Chrissy Houlahan, in PA-6 by stripping out half of Chester County and packing that into PA-5 which is a safe Dem seat. To make up the population stripped out, PA-6 now takes in more of Berks County that making this district now GOP-lean. What is the rationale for breaking up Chester County other than partisan Gerrymandering? This reminds me of the old Goofey kicking Donald map prior to the last redistricting, with PA-5 now spanning Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties. Chester County should be put back into one District. The same voters could vote for the same party as in 2020 and yet GOP will likely gain a seat due to line drawing. Seats should be won or lost based on ideas, and not how lines are redrawn. There may be cases of the opposite somewhere else, but PA should be better than this.
Maria Frigoletto
I very much oppose the proposed change in lines for the proposed 5th District. This proposed map unnecessarily spans across 3 counties and includes a portion of South Philadelphia whose issues and communities differ greatly from those of so many portions of chester county. The proposed plan also splits our educational community which is served by Delaware County Community College. Our school district is also split-- making it very difficult for our representatives to effectively represent our community. Please stop with the proposals for political gain and think about the people who live in these communities. We need to reach out to our representatives to help us resolve issues in our communities. What interests Does someone from South Philly have in what goes on in sparsely populated communities like Chadds Ford?
Ron Williams
I currently live in District 15 which will become District 12 in the proposed map. Practically speaking, this map changes little for my region. Unfortunately, while who it is that represents me will change, the fact remains that the extreme way in which our region is being represented will not. In spite of many hours attempting to make coherent what I think should be concerning to all Pennsylvanians about the larger proposed state map, in the final analysis I just want to ask, “Who does this map actually represent?” What we have here is a map drawn with questionable priorities, selected under questionable circumstances, and raising many legitimate questions about whom it is actually serving. If the House State Government Committee was genuinely interested in a process which fairly serves the residents of PA, it would have begun with the map developed through the input of hundreds of PA residents, the Citizens Map provided by Draw the Lines.
Adam David Jones
Why are black people so concentrated 2, 3, 5, and 15? Why can't there be more diversity in the electorate when it is possible?
paul marino
The fact that the township I live in, hamilton township, is lumped in with all 3 cities in the lehigh valley, easton, allentown, and bethlehem, is ridiculous. we are 40miles away from allentown center city in a rural area. This is gerrymandering at it's finest. All of monroe county needs to be removed from the voting district that includes the lehigh valley.
Adam Price
Please do not split a voting precinct. It creates a bad scenario for the voters of that precinct as well as for the county election bureau. The districts do not need to be exactly even. Just put all of Summit Township in the 16th district please.
Rexford Dimperio
Who owns the lake ?
Steven P Miner
Why is Dauphin County always cut up? The last map divided Susquehanna Township and its school district. This one is just as bad
M Hergott
This map unnecessarily cracks communities of interest for partisan gain- most notably the Harrisburg area. I think Harrisburg, York, and Lancaster should be included in the same district because they share a media market and have many demographic, cultural and, economic similarities. Doing so would also add another competitive district, making the map more fair. Here is an example of what such a map could look like: https://davesredistricting.org/join/cc780ece-087d-4246-963f-2344b7884765 6 seats are safe Republican, 5 safe Democrat, and 6 competitive with a 3-3 split in terms of the lean of these competitive seats. Trump would have won 9 seats in 2016 while Biden would have won 9 in 2020, which seems fair given that each candidate narrowly won the state.
LA
Karen Boback has done a great job listening to and representing Wyoming County! Please keep her in Wyoming County. Anyone else living and working outside the county will not put this county's priorities first, they will obviously put their efforts into their own county and hometown. Thank you for your consideration and I do and will continue to vote!!!!!
D D
Rep Boback has represented Wyoming County so well for 14 years and is so involved in the community. I am very much opposed to this re-draw. Keep Boback in Wyoming County! This is an outrageous idea all around. Please shut this down. It does not represent the people and most do not know it is happening. Rural and elderly citizens that do not have online access are being left with no voice.
Melissa Egbertson
I live in Horsham Township, MontCo. I am not happy that district 1 lines cut up my township into a jigsaw puzzle. My township and others surrounding the former Willow Grove Naval Air base (Warrington and Warminster, for example) share common serious concerns about our water supply polluted by PFAS contamination from Air Base activity. The derelict Air Base property needs to be cleaned up before any development of a township center, business park, shopping and new housing can take place. I want our three townships to be kept together in the new US congressional district. Since Bucks County needs to annex parts of Montgomery Co to cover the required number of people, the border of District 1 should encircle all of Horsham township, including the airbase property, and also include Hatboro so the Hatboro-Horsham school district is not split.
Paulette Matthews
There can be only one reason why Cumberland County is being split in this manner, and it’s not a good one. The priorities for York and Adams County are totally different then folks who live in Cumberland County, and particularly the area that has been lasered off Cumberland County. As a result, we have poor representation, a person who doesn’t really care about our needs, doesn’t even listen to us, and doesn’t represent us. We are being cheated.
Phyllis Blumberg
Partisan redistricting or gerrymandering is ruining our democracy and our country o Gerrymandering creates only red or blue districts with very few competitive districts, so we end up eliminating members of Congress with more moderate views who seek to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans. o In lopsided districts, Republican challengers in the primary run to the right of the incumbent and Democrats run to the left of the incumbent in the primary. When these non-centrist candidates win the overall result is further polarization in Congress which is increasingly composed of far right and far left members. It also results in incumbents being unwilling to compromise with the other party for fear of making themselves vulnerable to primary challengers. o When a district is overwhelmingly lopsided toward one political party there is no real competition in the general election because the minority party has no chance of winning. o As a result, I had observed though the increasing paralysis of the Congress to get anything done and our nation's inability to address critical challenges especially climate change and social network and safety networks due to this increased polarization within the Congress.
Catherine Rist Strauch
I am highly against the change that takes away our State Representative Karen Boback. She has been an immense supporter for our community. It is wrong that we suffer such a loss.
Robert H Kettell
Both the House and Senate maps should try harder to achieve equal population. Populations will shift over the next 10 years exasperating the past population shifts, so we need to get as close to the same for each district as we can with the current population. Shoot for a maximum of 5% variation, rather than 10%. Thanks
Karen Hunter
ALL of Union and Snyder Counties should be included in District 13. It makes no sense to carve out portions of these counties for District 9, which raises suspicions about the intent.
R. Marx
Revised comment -- I do NOT support the current map provided. I am re-submitting this, and re-attaching the map. 8-5 R to D split, with 4 toss-ups. It is not only compact, but it is competitive and just -- with 0.5% population deviance. Please feel free to email me upon request. https://app.districtbuilder.org/projects/11f20a3e-4f0b-41bf-8a6e-b717e2424504
R. Marx
Time and time again; the state Legislature has FAILED to provide a reasonable and equitable legislative map, for both the State and Federal Level. Further; it is a contender for "Joke of the Year" that Chairperson Grove would boast this map as a map drawn by "people, not by politicians" -- when, oops, this map was drafted by a former GOP County Commissioner from the Lehigh Valley. That kind of doublespeak may work for some of your inner circles, Mr. Grove -- but that doesn't fly with Pennsylvanians. The map: while this map may "present" itself as compact on the surface -- it is the SAME and EXACT tripe that the State Supreme Court dismissed back in 2018 as gerrymandered, and unsurprisingly shares the same reoccurring themes. Again; they have found the most creative ways to water down communities (that would not vote for them) and pad them into districts already heavily-tilted to vote in their favor. Dauphin, Cumberland, Chester, and Berks are the most visible hackjobs in this map -- Dauphin County clearly again at the targeted ire of state Republicans who abhor Harrisburg and the general vicinity. State legislators have once again proven their ineptitude and stark partisanship, presenting the state populace yet another reminder that they were never fit to serve as township dogcatcher, let alone as a representative to a larger governing body. With such blatant reluctance to provide a just, politically equitable, and competitive map -- it seems like this will be addressed once again by the State Supreme Court as it was back in 2018. An additional note: I think it's the cutest they try so hard to draw the easiest district lines for the biggest, knuckle-dragging losers in Washington -- allowing them to retain power in a non-competitive district (referencing the Neolithic dipsticks like Scott Perry who shouldn't even be allowed near any type of elected office).
Laurie Plank
I live in Dauphin County, South Hanover Township (which on this map resides in district 11), so my comments will center on my community of interest. I do think this map is an improvement over the first map submitted by Amanda Holt, in that this map now includes Harrisburg with Cumberland and York counties in district 10. However, I see no reason to include Adams County in district 10, and every reason to include the southern half of Dauphin County in district 10. My community of interest includes Harrisburg, which I visit regularly to dine, recreate, and attend cultural events. I visit Lancaster much less frequently. I believe one of the mapping rules is to attempt to keep counties together if at all possible. Why then cut Dauphin County into three parts? I can understand the upper part of Dauphin County which is much more rural, being placed with other rural counties (although, not living there, I don’t want to speak for how those residents feel) but the lower half should be kept as part of district 10.
Carol Nechemias
The Preliminary Congressional District Map recently released by the PA House State Government Committee cuts off Middletown from the larger Harrisburg area. It attaches our town and the southern part of Dauphin County to a district dominated by an intact Lancaster County. This fails to serve our interests and erodes our potential for meaningful representation by carving the greater Harrisburg area into three disparate congressional districts. The greater Harrisburg area includes the array of communities served by CAT (Capital Area Transit). Get on a CAT bus in Hershey, Middletown, Hummelstown, New Cumberland, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, Enola, Lemoyne, Wormleysburg--you will end up in downtown Harrisburg. We are a community, a place where we work, shop, and interact. Yet the current proposed map cuts us off from that larger community.
Gina Mistishen
The only slight improvement of this map vs the first is the inclusion of Harrisburg city with its close neighbors on the West Shore. However, this still splits up Dauphin County to weaken its voice by combining the pieces with rural counties with which we have no common bond and is really an obvious partisan ploy. There's a clear geographic area between Dauphin Co, Cumberland Co and N York Co that is mostly urban/suburban and we belong together. Try again.
Joshua Sadlock
This map shows progress over the first map put forward which effectively cut off the city of harrisburg from any nearby communities, but is still clearly gerrymandered to diminish the power of voters in Dauphin County. It is clear what they are trying to do by splitting up the votes of the one county in Central PA that went +12 for Biden with surrounding counties that went +10-20 for Trump. Let Dauphin County vote together.
Evan Williams
Any number of individuals have already said what I will say - this map is as bad as the one the Supreme Court tossed. I believe a new map must keep communities of interest together, not split the growing population centers in order to dilute their votes. Elbridge Gerry may applaud, but it gets only a Bronx Cheer from me.
Nancy Jo Geer Papadopoulos
District 17 seems to be unnecessarily broken up towards the bottom of the district. A better attempt should be made to make the areas whole and not broken up.
Brenda Uhler
Washington County needs to be more incorporated in District 14 due to removal of purple mass in southern Cambria county. District 17 looks like it will dilute the votes in the suburbs of Pittsburgh as drawn.
Brenda Uhler
Why not go north on the District 15's map's eastern border of Allegheny County to smooth out the gerrymandering and dilution of votes that will happen in District 17 for Allegheny County.
Brenda Uhler
This looks like gerrymandering through packing as many Democratic votes into one district in order to dilute the non Republican votes in the suburbs and towns across Allegheny County with the rural more Conservative votes of Beaver and Washington County.
Brenda Uhler
District 12 migrated so far West that it retains only Lycoming and a now includes all of Centre instead of part of it. Clinton has always had a community of interest with Lycoming, there are intercounty collaborations. District 12 was always a safe Republican district; the migration maintains that safeness. Why did it migrate West?
Brenda Uhler
District16 is a safe Republican district.
Brenda Uhler
More of Washington County rural districts should be added and the purple blob in Cambria removed. This is very obviously a safe Republican district.
Brenda Uhler
What's up with the little purple blob on the southern border of Cambria County?
Brenda Uhler
I believe that District 13 should include all of Snyder and Union Counties instead of splitting them with district 9. I do not think that parts of Dauphin and Cumberland should be part of that district. Dauphin and Cumberland should be the major component counties of district 10 with upper York County. Putting any part of Cumberland and Dauphin into other districts makes no sense. They are dependent on each other and are a community of interest. Many people cross the river to work in both directions. They have little in common with Blair, Huntingdon, Snyder, Union, Franklin and Fulton Counties among others.
Dan Stein
I strongly disagree with this map. It is only to give the democrats an advantage in every election. There is no interest in what is best for the people. Of for whom they ACTUALLY VOTED FOR.
Michael Waxenberg
This egregious and completely unnecessary gerrymander of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area illustrates HSGC's contempt for citizen input. Testimony before the Committee in Kingston on October 18th was unanimous: keep the Wyoming Valley and the Poconos together as they are currently, and give the Northern Tier counties their own representative, as they have today. At the conclusion of that hearing, both Chairs commented on the consensus among testifiers: Republicans, Democrats, residents of all parts of NEPA. The Preliminary Plan reflects the exact opposite of the popular will. I understand that Amanda Holt drew her original "citizen map" without regard to communities of interest, and that she worked within a dual constraint of zero population variance and no precinct splits. This mess is not her fault, and Chair Grove should not offer her as a scapegoat. The Updated Preliminary Map splits precincts freely, and the Chair could easily have repaired NEPA. This site received prompt, specific, unanimous comments urging him to do so. Instead, he has engineered an obvious gerrymander that erases the most competitive district on the current map. Rep. Grove knows that Governor Wolf will veto this map. When that veto comes, Rep. Grove will chide the Governor for rejecting a "citizen's map." Do not be fooled. The map is his, and HSGC's entire process has been a time-wasting charade.
Donna Faust
I strongly disagree with splitting counties.
Steve Harmanos
I totally agree, that splitting Luzerne County , especially removing Wilkes Barre from District 8, is a blatant political move to weaken the votes of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area. These two cities and the surrounding communities belong in the same district because of their cultural, ethnic and historical ties.
alexander levens
this version is slightly better when it comes to breaking up dauphin county. the Harrisburg suburbs (Hershey, Hummelstown, middletown, ect.) should be in district 10. right now its obvious the republicans have made these districts uncompetitive by nullifying the voices of the residents of our capital. also dilutes minority votes with huge rural population. do better and please don't rob me of the power of my vote.
Mykie Reidy
This map unfairly packs strongly blue suburbs, like Mt. Lebanon (where I live) into the already blue City of Pittsburgh district, making the 17th district uncompetitive for Democrats. This map wastes my and my neighbors' votes and dilutes our voices in Congress.
Vincent Matteo
Combining Lycoming with Luzerne makes no sense especially when you do not have Union with Lycoming. We have little in common with Luzerne but many business and social connections with Union.
Christian Sesek
This rendering of the 14th District excludes communities with a greater number of Democratic voters. The decision to include the mid Mon Valley in a district that stretches to the center of the state, mirrors the 9th District one decade ago. Those same communities were cracked out of the 18th District and placed into the 9th District. Mon Valley communities have far more in common with valley communities in Beaver County. Communities of interest should be preserved.
Jonah Adams
Please do not unnecessarily divide the South Philly community between 3 districts. Of course Philly's population means it must be divided, so being split between two representatives is acceptable, but 2 is enough.
Barbara McIlvaine Smith
I dislike the fact that once again I'm being represented by someone that lives in Delaware County. I would like to be included in the district along with the rest of Chester County where I have lived for 71 years, my entire life.
Elaine Giarrusso
There must be a way to keep counties together in SWPA. It’s a given that Allegheny County needs to be split, but not Washington or Butler.
Carol A. Catanese
The preliminary PA 6th Congressional District is a disservice to the citizens of PA. It stretches across a vast expanse of THREE counties from Chester, through Berks and Lebannon Counties, and from the northwest extreme to the southeast extreme it covers close to 100 linear miles!!! It carves out a shape that easily challenges the hideous former 7th from the 2010 redistricting, the laughing stock stock of the nation (if it wasn't such a travesty to our democracy). When so many worked so diligently to create fair districts, with several decent maps presented to the committee, how is it any of you who presented this can even sleep at night knowing you have done such a poor job. Having spent may years as an instructor and coming to terms with student evaluations, you all have earned no better than an F. Go back to the drawing board and get serious about your job and the work of creating fair districts.
PATSY M Gardiner
Do not split up Snyder County. Place it all in the 13th district and all of Union County in the 9th district.
PATSY M Gardiner
Place all of Union County in District 9 and all of Snyder County in District 13.
Carol A. Catanese
Several problems with the new Congressional 5th District. 1. It lacks compactness. 2. It stretches across THREE counties. 3. It defies rationality. In forming Congressional Districts it makes more sense to keep the boundaries as close as possible within county boundaries. the fact that it stretches east to west along PA southern border in the manner it does splits the county in a way that will make governing and tending to constituent needs difficulty and more costly.
Rick Thomas
Splitting out the eastern halves of Snyder and Union Counties is moronic. Surely there is a better shift along the edges that isn't as disruptive!
Joseph Risdorfer
Grove, You just happened to select a new district map submitted by a professional with " non-partisian data" who's background hints at far left connections. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandaecom How many Republicans has this non-partisian propose moving out of the 2nd congressional in NE Philly to the 4th district in Montco and how many Democratics from the 3rd district does she propose adding to the 2nd congressional district and why? Answer this basic question of non partisanship like this connection with the "George Soros funded "Common Cause" https://spectator.org/18101_soros-funded-liberal-group-common-cause-deep-financial-trouble/ Reconsider this stain on the General Assembly and restore the 2nd Congressional District.
Brenda Uhler
I dislike the district 13 map because it includes parts of Dauphin and Cumberland Counties. As I have commented in districts 10 and 11 district maps that included parts of Dauphin County and in district 10 that included part of Cumberland, these two counties should not be distributed among various districts. Cumberland had the highest population growth this past decade at 10.2% and Dauphin had a good growth at 6.8%. These counties should be the basis of a district not separated and parceled out separately. Sharing culture, economics and leisure activities; they are an obvious community of interest. That very distinct parceling is partisan gerrymandering. Registered Democrats in the District for Blair, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin and Perry number 62,313; registered Republicans total 160,213. Those numbers do not include the partial counties of Cumberland, Dauphin, Snyder and Union. Even with the more equally represented votes in Cumberland and Dauphin, the numbers still favor the GOP. When the numbers of Snyder and Union are added, the GOP wins hands down. This map should not include Dauphin and Cumberland, it will dilute the votes of people of color from Carlisle and surrounding areas as well as in the suburbs of Harrisburg.
Brenda Uhler
You still have included part of Dauphin County in District 11 and have now included all of Lebanon. I think Lancaster fits best with southern York County. People in Dauphin and Lebanon Counties do not routinely center their lives around Lancaster County. Lancaster and York share the River, history and culture. There is routine traffic across the river in both directions for work, dining and leisure activities. They are a community of interest and they are both rural with booming county seats and large suburban populations. They are both rather conservative and have experienced 6.5% and 4.9% growth in the past decade respectively. If you went with that district, there would be no need for Lebanon and part of Dauphin in the district. Lebanon could revert to District 9, and Dauphin could be intact, as it should be as the county wherein lies the Capitol. What a statement this map if adopted would make to the nation about the contempt of its legislators for the county where lies the state capitol and where they work.
Brenda Uhler
So now you have added the city of Harrisburg in Dauphin County and some West Shore communities of Cumberland County to the map that includes all of York and all of Adams Counties. That makes no sense at all. The addition of Harrisburg in this version of the District will dilute the Democratic votes. To remove Harrisburg from its surrounding East Shore suburbs is cutting the heart out of the pulsing economy that drives the growth of the area. Dauphin with a 6.8% increase in population and Cumberland with the state's highest growth at 10.2% should not be rendered into pieces and parceled into several different districts. The community of interest that is truly the heart of district as I see it, is Dauphin County, Cumberland County and the northern parts of York County. The people in these two counties and part of York county work, shop, and play together. People in the hearings from northern York County expressed that sentiment. To ignore the drivers, the community and the concerns of the people is to violate the premise of these open and transparent processes that you have so loudly proclaimed. As drawn district 10 will dilute the votes of the people in Harrisburg; the foray into Dauphin County to attach Harrisburg looks like a gerrymander as does the part of Cumberland County. This district as drawn will be a slam dunk for the Republican party and performs a dissection of the vital parts of the district as it now exists. Communities of interest-nah not so much! Adams has little in common with Harrisburg and the West Shore. This district is poorly conceived.
Brenda Uhler
Why is there a small part of Clinton in this district map? Was that an error? Including this vast portion of Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, in District 9 dilutes the Democratic votes of much of the county by placing it in a district that has predominately Republican registered voters-194,500-110,00, including only the counties that are whole and excluding any numbers for Luzerne, Snyder and Union, since they are unknowable based on being parts of counties. As I stated in previous comments. Luzerne is a community of interest with Lackawanna due to shared history, culture and economics. I think that Bradford and Susquehanna fit into this district. Bradford has common interests with Sullivan regarding collaborative county mental health programs and projects.
Brenda Uhler
Luzerne County needs to be a bigger part of District 8 than drawn on this map. Lackawanna and Luzerne are a community of interest with shared history, culture and economics. This map puts major parts of Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, in district 9 and is an obvious move to dilute Democratic votes in a district that is highly favorable to Republicans. It is also an obvious move to increase the likelihood of Republican dominance in District 8 by virtue of adding Bradford and Susquehanna Counties. Bradford and Susquehanna Counties should be removed from District 8 and added to District 9. District 8 as drawn shows obvious moves of gerrymandering by cracking Wilkes-Barre and thus diluting votes in a Republican dominated dominated District 8.
Anne Hanna
Good lord, dudes, this is literally the same district shape that was used to bury Harrisburg under Republican votes in 2011. This district was already ruled unconstitutional in 2018. Can't you at least come up with new gerrymanders?
Pierre MaCoy
Why are you splitting up Coal Country. The difficulties surrounding legacy coal issues (jobs/clean up) are better served having one rep that understands it vs adding in norther Tier PA that has flooding and more rural issues.
Pierre MaCoy
This version of the map is slightly better than the last Cumberland county split still not ideal. It does not however address the splitting of the Midstate (e.g. 717 area code) into 3 districts. Adams should be dropped and all Cumberland/dauphin and York should be one district.
Ruth Yeiser
The update that was sent from Rep. Grove indicated that the map had been updated to incorporate "citizen" feedback... In the last few days, there was a WHOLE lot of feedback from Dauphin County... None of that feedback advocated for slicing Dauphin County into 3 congressional districts! This new map no longer prioritizes minimized splitting. So long as minimized splitting is no longer a priority, the HSGC should be looking at and talking about the Draw the Lines Map...that map does incorporate community feedback, it has zero population deviation, it splits fewer counties, it splits fewer municipalities and it's significantly more compact. And while on the topic of zero population deviation, I couldn't find any testimony from Pennsylvanians who noted that a population deviation range of 0 was necessary or good. The only such testimony I could find came from a Texan who also seems to think that competitive elections are bad for America.
Larry Burns
Horsham Township should have one voice and not be split into separate districts
Amanda Fogarty
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre should not be in separate districts.
Amanda Fogarty
Harrisburg should not be separated from Linglestown, Progress, Colonial Park, Paxtonia. This split is not true to the overall community, and it should not be divided.
Kieran Francke
Another 2 precincts split here
Kieran Francke
Split County and Township not good!
Kieran Francke
Split voting precinct. BAD BAD BAD
Kieran Francke
Huge Gerrymander right here! this hurts democrats and helps Republicans get rid of it. Honestly Rep. Grove you didn't think the citizens would catch this!
Kieran Francke
Actually its worse then I thought. KEEP THE 9th OUT OF CLINTON AND THE 12TH OUT OF LYCOMNING. BUT WHICH YOU PICK. these two are the least competitive districts in the state so just make it even your already up 38 and 39 points
Kieran Francke
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!
Addy Lord
I find it difficult to give productive feedback on my county (Allegheny) without any stated goals of a map from the House State Government Committee. From what I can see, this map is no more or less successful at population deviation than the map from last week. It seems important to consider that there are other maps that were submitted by citizens earlier that would accommodate the 0 population deviation AND also do better with partisan bias and compactness. All of this appears to be moot because I don't know what your goals are, and it makes it difficult to then make sure my comments are something that you'll read. I'd hope that the hours of testimony you listened to, and the pages of submitted testimony and maps are all things that you can point to and take away from and be able to more easily say, "we made this decision because...". For now, we can just make guesses. I implore you, if you're going to choose a citizen map, please choose one with clear rationale and back up the decisions you've made for the state to hold you accountable to your office.
Kieran Francke
Forgot the link sorry to all. 2 districts divided cutting Chester in half by divided roughly some weird spots but it gives me a 437 over deviation and not splitting any municipality by route 30. the green goes into MONTCO. the blue into DELCO. purple rest of MOTCO, DELCO and Part of south and west philly. the blue is D+19, the green is D+13 and the purple is heavily Blue but then again it's in Philly so don't be shocked. the purple is D+57 or so and is a majority minority district via a coalition between all parties by .1% Option 4 Link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/d0ea82fe-22df-4c50-bacc-c07969e46b33
Juliet Christopher
How does this area of the map make any sense? You are picking and choosing what precincts (and PARTS of precincts) go where seemingly arbitrarily. What input did you get from the public before voting on it?
James Allen
My comment is similar to the one I made on the first version released to the public. Why are you not addressing the community of issue better? I live in Middle Paxton Township; shop and derive my entertainment from Harrisburg City venues, and use the Harrisburg Airport frequently - all of these venuses are now in 3 different proposed Congressional districts. I have seen a handful of alternatives already proposed that address the citizens' community of interest and geographical boundaries in a far more logical fashion. This proposal makes a mockery of the process. I supported Fair Districts PA for the last three years and if this is what the Legislature is going to adopt, I can assure you that support will turn to stronger efforts to remove everyone who votes for such gerrymandered maps out of office. No threat; just how democracy is supposed to work.
Kieran Francke
These are the alternate Chester County Map links. My priorities are partisan makeup so it's as fair as possible, no lack municipality splitting what so ever, and being within the 1% (which is 7,600 or so) Option 1: Chester and part of Montgomery (which has to be split anyway) Favors D+12 which isn't the most competitive but Chester is going Blue anyway and its more fair and it will make everyone happy I think in Chester more then going into Philly and splitting Chester up. Option 2: All of Chester plus a small portion of Delaware and Berks while avoiding reading city to make partisan make up fair. this will be D+6 very similar to the current district *(this is my preferred district) Option 3: Again Chester is in all one district this time most of DELCO The city of Chester is Split to get close as possible to 0 deviations. I got 11 under on this option. its a D+12 district which is to be expected but the compactness score is 60 and splitting 100 either way Option 4: the only option where I split Chester County and give you 3 districts. This is my least favorite option but may be the most helpful. I split Chester based on Route 30 Option 1 link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/234cd36d-2b6f-4d4f-b471-ef0bd0d78b11 Option 2 Link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/c68bcf6d-8107-4731-8665-bdc6c239b614 Option 3 link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/146e04a1-708c-42a4-81e7-60cb91e349c7 Option 4 Link:
Kieran Francke
ok my next comment. obvious gerrymandering for Republicans both in chester County where I live and I made my comments. Dauphin County doesn't need 3 districts. we went in the 11th from R+22 to R+23 in the 13th still the combined district R+31 to R+38 and the 10th we went from R+27 to R+22. Make the democratic area in the middle there democratic or at least competitive. In what would be my district from the 2018 D+10 to Holts D+2 to now D+1 you can be serious. Like I said last time. I am a democratic CP I work my ass off every year to win races and raise money in a grassroots way. Repoublicans and there big money get to sit back and pay for 30 mailers and 20 TV ads. they don't work hard like we do. if you want to flip a seat work you ass off like I do at 20 years old during the middle of midterms. or change your platform that might help too! I'm just being honest this is much more gerrymandered than Ms. Holts. go back and keep Chester county whole. Now I'm going to list alternatives here (links at the end of this comment and all others to my maps most of the state will be blank but this is a good way to do it.) Option 1: make Dauphin, Adams, Perry. Juniata, Mifflin, and Cumberland one district. I just did it in Daves redistricting it makes it 70 people over the 0 deviations and a 12 point advantage not in the 20s. this is so much fairer. Option 2 for central PA: Made up of all of Dauphin, Juniata, Perry, Cumberland, Lebanon, and 3 cities in york county. (the rep from this county said in the Friday hearing they Identify more with Harrisburg area). I live near the Lancaster border with Chester and have been to york county a lot. The western part identifies with Harrisburg and the east with Lancaster so lets play with that shall we. if we do that we have an R+10 district again much fairer then any of the other 3. Option 3: Dauphin, Lebanon, Cumberland, and most of Adams. under 735 voters which is legal and its R+10 again. another much fairer district. I will make another comment for any other districts I find off. with a map attached! just to help you all out a bit Linked to Option One for central PA: https://davesredistricting.org/join/667bd7cc-5700-4578-96d0-3f24c91efde4 Link to Option 2 for Central PA: https://davesredistricting.org/join/14080bfb-b77c-4f88-85e0-39edb46254fd Option 3 link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/14080bfb-b77c-4f88-85e0-39edb46254fd
Kieran Francke
really like the draw the lines map. It makes the state more competitive. I comend Amanda Holt's efforts even though it was gerrymandered but getting a 0 deviation is really really hard I have tried to do something close 8 times in the past week and I cant get under 150 without splitting municipalities or school districts to be honest. Look at Chester County now its east-west. Keep Chester WHOLE! parts are still in with Philly though stop that. Thank you for taking my advice and keeping Coatesville, Downingtown, and Octorara whole good. But we are now still splitting Unionville, West Chester, and I think Tredifferyn (new) now. Plus We went from Willistown to West Whiteland township. AGAIN KEEP CHESTER COUNTY WHOLE! ESPECIALLY ANYTHING SOUTH OF THE TURNPIKE! ill add other comments later
Sean Boggio
Splitting North Franklin in this fashion makes little sense. It puts the High School and those that live around it in a completely different district than 90% of the other families in the district for no legitimate reason.
Lisa Hyatt Cooper
The process this time has been pretty much the same as in 2011. Yes, Chair Grove, you held listening sessions, but when you take testimony you have no intention of using, all it does is adder a thicker layer of hypocrisy to a naked power grab.
Scott Richard Friedman
I do not like this map. I watched the House State Government Committee meeting today and although Representative Grove insisted they did not consider partisanship when he and Amanda Holt (a Republican who served as a former Lehigh County Commissioner) drew this map, I find that difficult to believe. It's clear Commissioner Holt's goal here was to draw lines to create the smallest number of safe Democratic seats as possible and flood previously competitive suburban districts with swaths of rural voters in the hopes of sending 12 Republicans to Congress. This was achieved by contorting previously compact districts which reflected the competitive nature of their respective regions into messy jagged-edged mockeries of what the average Pennsylvanian could reasonably expect their district to look like. Take the 17th for example, which I would consider a district meant to anchor suburban SWPA: this map makes the CONSCIOUS and POLITICALLY STRATEGIC choice to pack cosmopolitan suburbs of Allegheny, such as Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, and others, into the Pittsburgh-based urban 15th (previously known as the 18th) to make room for exurban and heavily rural areas in Washington County. The result is a misshapen Frankenstein's monster of a district with unnatural appendages and flimsy stitches. It taints the vote and subverts the will of Allegheny/Beaver residents. It is far more logical to include in Lawrence County in the 17th because New Castle and its suburbs share greater economic and cultural ties to Beaver and Allegheny than rural communities in Washington. This would also reunite all of Ellwood City, which is split between Lawrence and Beaver, into one congressional district. I use the 17th as an example because this is my lifelong home and I can tell just by looking at the lines exactly what the mapper had in mind but I know the same strategy was employed on the eastern side of the Commonwealth too. The 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th have all been drawn to give Republican candidates an artificial advantage. This map was drawn in poor faith, chops up communities of interest, and does not give every Pennsylvanian the equal opportunity to elect a representative of their choice required by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (See attachment for a SWPA resident-drawn alternative that better reflects the community interests of our region)
Sean R Boggio
This whole section of South Franklin needs to be put in with PA-17. If the city of Washington is going to PA-17 these people live and work in that area not more SOUTH.
Josh Feldblyum
Still playing unnecessary games with the Philly/suburb borders I see - districts 3&5 here, and also 2&4 with Montgomery County stealing part of Northeast Philly. Not logical, and not acceptable.
Rachel Goff
I like the map that was proposed by Draw the Lines. I object to the commitee chair unilaterally picking this map, one of the 19 maps, the most partisan map, as the "baseline" map. I want the House commitee and the public to compare maps. The chair used his power as chair to prevent discusison of any map except this one, I also object to the chairs strategy plan publically stated to have separate democratic, republican and governor maps. I suggest there be an amendment to fully replace this map with the Draw the Lines map, which is superior in every way, with better compactness, less partisan and incorporated community voices, in a public and iterative process. It also did not split Blair or Lebanon counties and had zero pop deviation.
Anne Hanna
So y'all filed the rough edges off your previous partisan gerrymander-by-cherry-picking. Cute. It was also cute how you didn't even announce this update until less than 24 hours before the voting meeting, and then didn't get the actual analytical data out to the public until _after_ you'd voted. It's also cute how you're pretending this plan incorporated citizen feedback, when the only citizen feedback you included was from a couple key Republican votes on your committee, plus a Republican Congressman (Reschenthaler) who apparently didn't want to be in an actually competitive district. You certainly didn't incorporate any feedback even from your fellow Democrats on the committee, as they all voted no on this, much less from any of the overwhelming volume of negative comments on your previous draft. Harrisburg is still messily broken amongst three districts. Wilkes-Barre is still messily split between two districts. Pittsburgh is still egregiously packed into one district. All of these features help create a durable, massively disproportionate, and illegal partisan advantage for your party, and it sure is cute how you keep lying that you didn't look at any partisan data in choosing and editing this map. It was cute how, in committee, you read out a long segment from the 2018 LWV v. PA decision that specifically undermines everything you're doing with this map. The passage you read noted that: (a) a map doesn't have to be proven to be intentionally gerrymandered to be illegal (i.e., your lies about never having looked at the partisan impacts of this map are irrelevant and useless) (b) a map can look superficially okay on the four traditional neutral criteria and still be illegal (this map may be more compact than Amanda's original, but it's still obvious to everybody watching that you chose it because it produces a massive, durable, disproportionate advantage for your party) (c) the four traditional neutral criteria are the floor of protection for free and equal elections, not a ceiling (partisan fairness is part of fair elections --- the Court affirmed that implicitly with its remedial map --- and your map does not meet this requirement) And it's cute how you selected a base map whose sole (public) selling point was that it achieved 0 precinct splits with +/-1 population equality, and then just casually threw that away as soon as it became inconvenient. Apparently now there are 9 precinct splits instead. So why was it you chose this one person's one map out of all the input you were offered again? It's pretty cute how you think nobody notices that you're still not saying. Just adorable all around. The cutest thing of all is gonna be your fake sadface when Gov. Wolf vetos this nonsense and SCOPA ends up drawing a map that you don't have any role in designing at all. You could have created an independent commission that would've run a true open and transparent redistricting process that would put your input at the same level as that of every other PA citizen. You could have run your own legislative process in a genuinely open and transparent fashion. But instead you're just trying to replay 2011, except that now you don't actually have the power to unilaterally ram this through like you would have then. Well, maybe it's not so much cute as pathetic. Either way, it sure is a waste of everybody's time and taxpayers' dollars, so good show on that front.
Blair R Lewis
Do not breakup East Hanover from the rest of the Lower Dauphin school district.