PA Supreme court says that the current districting in our state is unconstitutionally benefitting the GOP.
How secure are these Supreme Court seats? Are they appointed for life?
10-year terms, followed by a “retain-or-not” vote, and then either another 10-year term or a new election.
E. Mark Braden, a lawyer for Turzai, said it was inconceivable that a political body like a legislature, which is constitutionally tasked with drawing lines for Congress, would not take partisan considerations into account.
This pretty much sums up the direction the courts have taken over the last decade, Federal or State (this too). It’s Free Speech, or whatever the problem is in this case, which is more important than a functioning Democracy (apparently).
It’s sad that I find myself agreeing; nobody who’s reached the legislature is realistically divorced enough from party influences to be reliably trusted on such matters. It’s human nature paired with the all-or-nothing system we’ve got in play.
Sweet! Not that my vote will make a difference. No matter how PA is cut, I am living in South Central PA, in farm country. Nice people though.
Good ol’ Pennsyltucky. Yeehaw.
Hey, there’s a chance that Pennsyltucky might elect Connor Lamb.
Indeed.
http://www.dfmresearch.com/uploads/PA-18_Survey__Report.pdf
(Lamb trailing the Republican candidate in the 18th by 3 points. District was +22 Trump.)
(Same poll: Democratic Senator up for election Bob Casey has a 51% approval rating. If he gets within 6-8 points of that in southwest Pennsylvania, he’ll coast to re-election.)
Smart people who know elections (Wasserman, McDonald, etc) and law saying that the Pennsylvania decision is a big one, because for whatever reason it is likely not eligible for appeal to SCOTUS. Meaning the districts have to be redrawn by November, and will result in at least one Democratic pickup and some significant weakening of Republicans in other seats.
This is because it was ruled unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania state constitution… it’s not a federal matter at all. The Pennsylvania supreme court is the highest court there is in this case.
More explanation on Pennsylvania. A thread within a thread, if you like. :)
but also…
In CA, the GOP sponsored an initiative to remove the drawing of districts from the legislature and place it into the hands of a panel of retired judges because they were getting their asses handed to them on a regular basis. It backfired to the degree that it actually led to more Democratic districts than the legislature originally had, as they were basically drawing the districts to protect incumbents more than just secure as many districts as possible. The Dems actually ended up with a 2/3 majority in both legislative houses for a short time.
I was torn when I voted for it, as I knew it was being sponsored as a partisan initiative, but in the end I did vote for it, as it seemed more like the right thing to do.
Of course, the GOP hasn’t sponsored ANY legislation in any red states to do this… though neither have the Dems, AFAIK.
The new map has to be drawn almost immediately. The state court ruling gave Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled General Assembly until Friday to draw new boundaries, and Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, an additional week to approve or veto the new map.
If Wolf and Republican lawmakers can’t reach a consensus, the Democrat-controlled State Supreme Court will draw the lines itself.
I’d love to see the Pennsylvania GOP contort themselves into a pretzel over these new lines because now forced to negotiate in good faith otherwise the state court libtards will draw them as they see fit. It’s nice to see the GOP’s win at all cost mentality coming around to bite them in the ass.
Yessss, it’s delicious.
It might mean my vote will matter again instead of being lumped into rural Lancaster County despite me living in the city of Reading.
Awwww, you’re so cute, Reading is totally rural. ;)
No way, they don’t read out in the sticks.
Your lucky. I think no amount of changes will stop the 4th district from going GOP.