Proposed 15th State Senate District the Most Gerrymandered Legislative District in the Country

November 4, 2011 - 6:57am

Harrisburg, Pa.- On Monday, the Pennsylvania Redistricting Commission approved the proposed new State Senate map by a party-line vote of 3-2 with Judge Stephen McEwen siding with his fellow Republicans on the Commission.

On Wednesday, the Harrisburg Patriot News published an editorial asking if the new 15^th State Senatorial District (map above) is “a joke,” and calling the new district lines “blatantly wrong,” stating that the purpose of the shape of the district was to “solely to remove Harrisburg from Sen. Jeffery Piccola’s turf” to “save Piccola from a tough race in 2012.” Ultimately, the editorial called on the Redistricting Commission to “put some integrity back into this process.”

“Senator Pileggi and Judge McEwen along with the rest of the Redistricting Commission, were given the task of drawing new Senate district lines that would be fair and equitable to the citizens of Pennsylvania,” said Aren Platt, spokesman for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. “Instead, they approved a statewide map that includes the 15^th State Senate District. This new district is likely the most gerrymandered legislative district in the country.

“While it is to be expected that Senator Pileggi, the Republican Leader in the Senate, would be partisan, this Senate district goes beyond the pale – creating an abysmal horse-shoe shape that is approximately 40 miles high and 40 miles wide, but is over 115 miles when stretched from end to end (greater than the distance between Harrisburg and Philadelphia).

“Furthermore, assuming Judge McEwen – a distinguished retired Superior Court judge, known for his impartiality on the bench – saw the map he voted in favor of at the same time as the Democratic members of the Commission (30 minutes before the meeting and the vote) he could not have had enough time to properly review the fairness of districts like the 15^th, and his vote could only have been based on the fact that the Republicans presented it.

“To vote in favor of this map, shows a shocking disregard for Pennsylvania’s citizens, favoring instead his Harrisburg political cronies. This pure partisanship is especially unfortunate when it comes from a retired judge. His support of a statewide map that contains a district like the 15^th will only serve to erode the public’s confidence in the redistricting process and in the legislature.

“We as Pennsylvanians can only hope that the Redistricting Commission will not let this map become final and that McEwen will ‘put integrity back into this process.’ ”

# # #

Email this page

Twitter

SenatorHughes: Doug Carn-Peace: http://t.co/CKFLW1eb via @youtube

13 hours 33 min ago

SenatorHughes: The Intrepid Fox: http://t.co/FceONILU via @youtube

1 day 3 hours ago

SenatorHughes: A Museum, Reborn, Remains True to Its Old Self, Only Better http://t.co/UjOfeXk3

1 day 4 hours ago

SenatorHughes: RT @amprog: Nearly 50% young adult households ages 15-34 are under-banked, according to a 2009 survey by the FDIC. (via @usatoday) http: ...

1 day 4 hours ago