Gov. Wolf Hears Input From Pittsburgh Voters On Redrawing Of State's Congressional Map
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A battle over Pennsylvania's Congressional map has gone all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
The state Supreme Court ruled recently that it is too partisan.
State Republicans don't want it to change; but on Thursday, at Point Park University, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf heard from some voters who disagree.
The current map was drawn by a Republican legislature.
"People, I sense, are really fed up with the way the map is, and they really want a fair map," said Gov. Wolf.
For years, Pennsylvania has had 13 Republican congressmen, five Democrats.
At the town meeting at Point Park University, many voters said it was time to take the map out of the hands of politicians and let an independent commission draw the lines.
"Elected representatives are the ones drawing the maps," said Anna Fisher, of Fair Districts Pa. "They have a built-in conflict of interest to draw maps that are safe for themselves, their colleagues, their parties. It's works for them, but it doesn't work for us."
A lawsuit by the League of Women Voters contends the map packs most of the state's Democrats into five districts, making it virtually impossible for Republicans to lose in the other 13 districts.
There are more than four million registered Democrats in the state, and 3.2 million Republicans. Giving Dems an 800,000 vote margin.
In the 2012 congressional races, Republican candidates got 49 percent of the vote, while Democrats got more than 50 percent.
Even so, Republicans have the edge - 13 congressman to five democratic.
Republicans don't want to change it. They're seeking a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.
But Gov. Wolf contends this is a state issue.
"Seems to me that the U.S. Supreme Court ought to say, this is really the state Supreme Court ruling on an issue that has to do with the Pennsylvania Constitution. They're the ones who should decide this," he said.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is expected to rule on whether to issue a stay on Friday.
