The 46th Curveball

Although the work of governing is rarely a game, the comparisons between politics and sports are difficult to avoid. Elections and the political process lend themselves well to sports metaphors—sometimes the comparisons are forced, but often they are spot-on accurate.

Earlier this week, , and the only way to accurately describe the experience is to compare it to stepping into the batter’s box and having a 101 mile-per-hour fastball thrown right at my head.

Allow me to explain.

Every 10 years, in the election following the census, Pennsylvania’s 203 legislative districts and 50 Senate districts are reapportioned throughout the state. The process, known as redistricting, has been the subject of intense but hushed discussion in the State Capitol for months, mainly because the vast majority of lawmakers have little say in the process.

The Redistricting Commission consists of the Republican and Democratic leaders in the State House and Senate, with the fifth member chosen by the party in power—in this case, the Republicans.

The current chairman is a retired Republican Superior Court judge from Delaware County. This commission votes on the redistricting plan; there is no formal action by the rest of the Legislature or the Governor.

House districts need to have the same basic population of about 62,000 people, so district lines tend to shift based on population gains and losses. Sometimes districts will need to shift to other parts of the state; typically a retiring lawmaker’s seat is phased out to avoid pitting incumbents against one another.

This is the fifth redistricting under the current law. In 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001, the process was relatively bipartisan, with Democrats and Republicans trying to agree on as many lines as possible.

I had met with the representatives from the House Democratic caucus on several occasions and came away with what I considered to be a reasonable understanding of what my district would look like when the preliminary maps were unveiled.

So you can imagine my shock when I learned that the Republicans decided to introduce and vote on a map no one even saw until 30 minutes before they voted on it. The map passed by a party-line vote, with the three Republicans voting for it and the two Democrats voting against it. It is worth noting that this plan is preliminary and could change following a 30-day public-comment period and another brief period before the Redistricting Commission votes on the final plan.

Under this plan, the boundaries of the 46^th Legislative District will shift considerably, with areas I have represented such as Hanover (Washington and Beaver), Jefferson, Mt. Pleasant, South Franklin, Canton, Chartiers, Independence, Cross Creek, Buffalo and Hopewell Townships, plus Burgettstown, Frankfort Springs, Green Hills and parts of Smith Township going to a new representative (mostly to Jim Christiana, a Republican from Beaver County).

The 46^th District will move more into Allegheny County and will now include the representative who currently represents the 45^th District—which has been eliminated and moved to Chester County.

This move is a shameless partisan political power grab, pure and simple. This plan abandons the tradition of reasonable bipartisan cooperation and could easily give the Republican party a stranglehold on Pennsylvania for the next decade.

I am hopeful there will be some bipartisan movement over the next several weeks and we will emerge with a more reasonable map, but I have been in this job just long enough not to sit around and wait for the Bipartisanship Fairy to leave a dollar under my pillow.

I’m not going to whine and complain about the inequities of the redistricting process. Instead, I’m going to do what I’ve done for the past five years, which is work like a dog to represent the 46^th Legislative District to the very best of my ability. If I lose a large portion of my current district, I will certainly be disappointed but I will embrace the changes like a grown-up and do my job.

So to return to the sports metaphors, even though I’ve had a pitch thrown at my head, I’m not going to give up. I’ll simply dust myself off, stand tall in the batter’s box and focus in on the next pitch, firm in the knowledge that the game isn’t anywhere near over yet.

For more information on the redistricting process and upcoming public comments, go to www.redistricting.state.pa.us.