According to the Pennsylvania Constitution, to which every member of the legislature has sworn to uphold, “The Commonwealth shall be divided into 50 senatorial and 203 representative districts, which shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable. Each senatorial district shall elect one Senator, and each representative district one Representative. Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district.”

There has been little in major changes to this district since 1971, but a glance at its shape and what is cut out of its borders says much.  The urban areas of northeast PA are excluded.  It is neither compact nor contiguous and the incumbent is rarely challenged. 


 

When legislative leaders manipulate district boundaries to keep themselves in office or to silence their opposition, we ALL lose.  This abuse of our political system has made Pennsylvania one of the most gerrymandered states in the country.  Pike County is no exception, and we will be working closing with Fair Districts PA (https://www.fairdistrictspa.com/) in this year’s reapportionment process.  It’s time that voters have the right to choose their legislators instead of legislators choosing their voters.

For more information, visit Fair Districts PA!