Could Pennsylvania redraw its congressional map?

(WHTM) — What’s happening in Texas is leading many states to threaten to redraw their congressional maps, but could that happen in Pennsylvania?

The short answer is no, for now. Pennsylvania is a politically divided state, meaning one party cannot force its will on the other.

Carol Cuniholm is with Fair Districts PA and is pleased with Pennsylvania’s current map of nine Republican seats and eight Democratic. However, it has happened in the past, as Pennsylvania’s 2011 map was much more lopsided, with 13 Republican seats to just five Democratic.

“We went from having one of the most gerrymandered in the country to having one of the best in the country,” said Cuniholm. “Any activity by either party that takes power away from voters, which gerrymandering does, is wrong.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the 2011 map unconstitutional and ordered a redraw. The court redrew a new map in 2018, which was more balanced, but Republicans argued the Supreme Court overstepped its bounds.

“They have the authority to declare a map unconstitutional, but they don’t have the authority to do is write law,” said Senator Cris Dush (R-Jefferson).

The map would later change again after the 2020 census, when Pennsylvania lost a seat, bringing the total down to 17. Republicans have nine seats and Democrats have eight.

Currently, Pennsylvania is considered one of the most fairly drawn districts in the country, so why should Pennsylvanians worry about what is happening in Texas?

“It’s the degree to which this has been weaponized,” said David Thornburgh, co-founder of Draw the Lines, a citizen-led organization that combats gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. “This is heading towards nuclear conflict as opposed to a little backyard scrap.”

Even Dush, a proud conservative, cringes at Texas’ mid-decade redrawing.

“If this was totally done for political means, that’s not what the Constitution was set up for,” said Dush.

Now, Democratic states are threatening to do a little one-upmanship of their own.

“If both parties are playing this game where they’re capturing districts without regard for us, a pox on both their house,” said Cuniholm.

However, the map battle won’t be coming to this battleground state anytime soon, thanks to narrow majorities and divided government. Of course, political winds can and do change.

“It could be us the next time, and it’s bad for the country,” said Thornburgh.

Despite the discussions of gerrymandering, Cuniholm says Pennsylvanians shouldn’t worry.

“The average Pennsylvanian should be alarmed that anyone would tell a state to find more districts, more seats for one party. That’s cheating. That’s not the way our democracy should work,” Cuniholm said. “I think any voter should be alarmed at the idea of it, should be alarmed that the special session that Governor Abbott called to address emergency response to a tragic flood was hijacked to instead top priority draw new maps to give Republicans five extra seats in a state where they already had one of the most gerrymandered maps in the country.”

Cuniholm wants an independent commission to draw maps in Pennsylvania, which has been discussed for more than a decade. However, getting people who have the power to draw maps to give up that power is easier said than done.