State Sens. Tommy Tomlinson and Chuck McIlhinney, along with other officials, authored a letter to the PA Supreme Court justices, urging them to approve a congressional map that keeps Bucks County whole
The Times
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week released a new congressional map that keeps Bucks County whole, while including a portion of Montgomery County.
The current 8th Congressional District will be renamed the 1st Congressional District.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick will have a slightly tougher re-election race, as the Democratic-controlled Supreme Court took out some solid GOP areas of his current district.
State Sens. Tommy Tomlinson and Chuck McIlhinney and Reps. Gene DiGirolamo, Frank Farry, Bernie O’Neill, Kathy Watson, Marguerite Quinn and Craig Staats had authored a letter to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, urging them to approve a congressional map that keep Bucks County whole.
The lawmakers were angry that Gov. Tom Wolf submitted a map that split the county.
Tomlinson said, “I, along with my Bucks County colleagues, disagree with the proposal of Gov. Wolf. Bucks County has been wholly represented in a single congressional district since 1889, and should remain that way. Bucks County and Philadelphia are very different, and what’s right for Philadelphia isn’t always right for Bucks County.”
Proposals offered by the legislative Republicans, the House Democratic Caucus and the Senate Democratic Caucus would have kept Bucks County wholly intact. Despite those proposals, Wolf attempted to bring Philadelphia into Bucks County and cut Bucks County into two.
“Not only is Bucks County cut into multiple congressional districts, the governor’s plan splits two municipalities as well. This directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s opinion, which put a great emphasis on districts remaining compact and contiguous,” Tomlinson said.
DiGirolamo, of Bensalem, said, “Removing Bensalem Township from the 8th Congressional District, and placing it into the 13th Congressional District would violate what the Supreme Court issued. I don’t believe this is right or fair to the residents of Bensalem and Lower Bucks County.”
