Political Redistricting Shifts Debate

June 23rd, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

After nearly losing to a political rookie in 2000, then-House Majority Leader John Perzel found a way to survive in elections to come: he had his Northeast Philadelphia district redrawn.

The result resembled a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the floor, with the pieces containing the maximum number of increasingly scarce city Republicans – people likely to vote for a guy like him. The GOP legislator has not faced a close race since.

Or take the 1991 case of State Sen. Frank Pecora, who woke one morning shocked to find that his district in the Pittsburgh suburbs had been uprooted and replanted 230 miles east in Chester County.

Such is the power of redistricting, the once-a-decade remapping of legislative and congressional boundaries based on fresh federal census numbers.

In Pennsylvania, political leaders control the process, allocating residents by party and voting patterns to help re-elect themselves and incumbents loyal to them and punish those who are not.

Filed under:

Elections

Gotta make you proud!

On June 23rd, 2008 Anonymous said:

Gotta make you proud!

custom tailored districts or assignments to discipline rowdy party members are peculiar ways to follow the Pennsylvania State Constitution but then these people really learned that, like Monopoly you need to stay out of jail, pass go, and land on Park Place as an elected official to get a great salary, better perks and wonderful pension so do what you have to do. Its a shame the office can not be inherited also. Its time for all candidates to run as Independents on the ballots and cancel the spring primaries and go for broke in November.

Redistricting

On June 23rd, 2008 faudi said:

How insane to even hope our entrenched legislators would do something right if it threatened their power or incumbency!
Our self-indulgent legislators won’t let the needs of the state or of the people interfere with their power.

And we the people have put

On June 23rd, 2008 Anonymous said:

And we the people have put the same legislators back in year after year…not just in Harrisburg, but Washington as well. There is no one to blame ourselves, but you would hope for a more compassionate group of leaders. Maybe someday.