Local Lawmaker Concerned Over Proposed Legislative Redistricting

An area state representative has raised some concerns about the draft Pennsylvania House redistricting map.

The proposed map, which was passed by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission 3-2 last month, is not set in stone and there have been challenges to it.

Restricting occurs every ten years once new U.S. Census data is released. State law requires legislative districts be “composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable,” with a goal of not splitting municipalities unless “absolutely necessary.”

State Rep. Frank Farry, a Republican from Langhorne Borough who serves the 142nd Legislative District, said he has worries over the proposal and impacts it could have on lawmakers, constituents, and the ability to have competitive districts, something Bucks County is known for.

Under the proposed map, Farry would keep Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, Lower Southampton Township, and part of Middletown Township. He would lose Upper Southampton Township, while gaining Penndel Borough, part of Northampton Township and additional sections of Middletown Township.

A comparison tool from LevittownNow.com news partner Spotlight PA shows the political makeup of the proposed redistricting for Farry’s district. It shows the proposed map would keep it a moderate district, with the district going from 41.44 percent of residents being Democrats and 44.03 percent Republican to 42.70 percent Democrats and 41.78 Republicans.

Farry, who has served since 2009, has seen redistricting before and beat back competitors over the years.

The lawmaker told LevittownNow.com his concerns don’t come just from his district but the fact the proposed draft map moves about 211,000 Bucks Countians to new legislative districts, including some in his current district. He noted six to seven of Bucks County’s House districts can be considered competitive and the new map would create five “safe seats.”

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project fails the current draft map and calls it “uncompetitive relative to other maps that could have been drawn.”

“The displacement of population impacts residents who are currently working on constituent issues with their representative, moves local governments and community groups away from representatives who they have a working relationship with and essentially drops a candidate into their district who they never had voted for previously to be their future representative,” Farry said. “All of these factors and more have negative consequences.”

“You can and should improve the maps, but why would you disrupt people?” he said.

Farry said the change would give the Democratic and Republican party bosses control by making districts less competitive. He said the less competitive districts would leave the winners as the political party bosses’ hand-picked candidates.

The veteran lawmaker has proposed two draft maps that would redistrict without having the large population shift laid out in the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission map.

The first map would shift less than 1 percent of the population to new districts and the second would move less than seven percent of Bucks County’s population. The second proposal would reduce two representatives for Bristol Township to one and Middletown Township from having three House representatives to two.

“There’s a way to keep seats competitive and not flip the world upside down,” Farry said.

Recently, Farry sent an overview of his concerns and proposed map changes to his constituents.

The USA Today Network editorial page, which includes the Bucks County Courier Times, has released an opinion piece raising concerns similar to Farry’s.

“We love Bucks County’s diversity of thought and its abundance of opinions from every point along the political spectrum. Bucks County deserves to send its best to Harrisburg, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, and its voters deserve the chance to have a real say in choosing them,” the newspaper wrote.

Farry also has support from Republican State Rep. Wendi Thomas, whose district under the proposed map becomes more favorable for her party, is concerned about the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission proposal. She wrote in an opinion piece for The Advance of Bucks County that the map is “not good for residents” and “continues to sow the division that is hurting our communities.”

The new legislative maps have to be in place before February 15, which is the first chance potential candidates have to circulate petitions to get on the ballot for the May primary.

The Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, has asked for a legislative map to be approved before the end of January so staff has time to prepare for the primary election.

Resident comments to the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission on the proposed map can be submitted through Tuesday. To comment on the proposal, click here.

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