As redistricting of congressional districts gets underway in Pennsylvania, the Bucks County Commissioners have come out in support of keeping the county in just one district.
According to a statement from the commissioners, which is made up of two Democrats and one Republican, Bucks County has been in one congressional district for more than 170 years.
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The commissioners raised worry after a preliminary discussion on the issue in Harrisburg brought up dividing Bucks County into two separate congressional districts.
Earlier this month, the commissioners approved a resolution announcing officials should support keeping the county as one district. They said breaking the county up would “divide our community, create administrative problems, and violating fair redistricting principles that focus on keeping communities with defined boundaries.”
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
“I don’t think anybody in Bucks County wants to see (a split) happen – whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever party you belong to,” Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican, said in a statement.
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“We are going to forward the resolution to our state House and Senate delegation,” DiGirolamo added. “I think it’s important to let lawmakers know that we want Bucks County to stay whole as one district.”
“We want to keep Bucks County intact,” Commissioner Bob Harvie, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We know that there are other counties that are chopped up into pieces, but it would certainly make the job of elected officials, like ourselves, more difficult, and more complicated for voters.”
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Bucks County’s congressional district was last redrawn in 2018 following a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that found there was partisan gerrymandering.
The First Congressional District, which was previously the Eighth Congressional District, has included parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County in the past. It is known nationally as a moderate district.
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