Republicans in the Pennsylvanian legislation re-submitted a congressional map to Gov. Tom Wolf. The original GOP-drawn map was ruled unconstitutional by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Jan. 22 on the grounds of gerrymandering, and required all the 18 districts in the state to be redrawn by Feb. 9.
Despite top Republicans’ claim that the proposed map fully complied with the court’s order, top Democrats in the House and Senate, within an hour of its public release, urged Gov. Tom Wolf to “reject it outright.”
A spokesman for Wolf said on Friday that even though the redrawn map does not seem to abide by the letter of the court’s order, the governor would still be willing to review it.
According to Philly.com, Pennsylvania’s congressional map has been widely cited an “extreme example of gerrymandering,” and has been ranked among the “most skewed maps by multiple measures.” Since the original map was drawn in 2011, Republicans have consistently won the same 13 of 18 House seats, despite the fact that votes cast in the state were evenly split between the parties.
Philly.com reports that “any redrawing could have significant implications not only for the state but for national politics as well, as Democrats hope to chip away at a Republican majority in the House.”
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