Here we go again. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission passed new preliminary versions of the Pa. House and Senate maps by a vote of 4-1 Thursday afternoon. House Dems and GOPers compromised on their map, and Chairman Stephen McEwen introduced his own Senate map when the two sides couldn’t agree.
McEwen sided with the Democrats against a GOP map that moved Sen. Jim Brewster’s (D) seat from Allegheny County to Monroe. Instead, he introduced his own map which essentially supported Dems’ plan to move the seat of Sen. Jane Orie (R-Allegheny) to the Poconos.
View closeups of the House map here: Philly, SEPA, Allegheny County.
Costa actually voted against the final product, saying it was too soon to make a determination as to the map’s validity.
House Republicans and Democrats agreed on a map that moved five seats:
HD-5. Retiring Rep. John Evans’ (R) seat moves from Eric/Crawford counties to Berks.
HD-22. Former Rep., now County Controller Chelsa Wagner’s (D) seat from Allegheny County to Allentown, where it will be a majority Hispanic district.
HD-74. Retiring Rep. Bud George’s (D) seat from Clearfield County to Chester.
HD-115. Retirinf Rep, Ed Staback’s (D) seat from Lackawanna/Luzerne counties next door to Monroe.
HD-169. Former Rep., now Philly Councilman Denny O’Brien’s (R-) seat from northeast Philadelphia to southern York County.
The maps will now endure a 30 day period for public comment before they are finalized. The first public hearing is scheduled for May 2.
The LRC had to go back to the drawing board after the Pa. Supreme Court threw out their initial product in January, saying those maps split too many municipalities.
Erik Arneson, spokesman for the Senate GOP, said most people in the process presume the map will take effect for the 2014 elections.
House map:
House Legal descriptions, h/t Laura Olson:
Detailed Senate map:
Senate Legal descriptions:
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