New Map Proposal Would Put All Of Chester County In 6th District

The new congressional map which was redrawn by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday would incorporate all of Chester County into the state's 6th district.

Pennsylvania's 6th district, which has long been one of the state's most gerrymandered districts after the infamous 7th district, currently contains several counties: Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Lebanon.

The 6th district was redrawn to its current format in 2013. According to a New York Times analysis, what would have been a 6-point Clinton victory in 2016 on a nonpartisan map ultimately became a 14 point Trump victory in the district.

The current system benefits Republicans in Pennsylvania by "borrowing" heavily from Democratic strongholds in southeastern Pennsylvania and west-central Pennsylvania and looping them into Republican districts that are farther away from the blue centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh This dilutes the Democratic presence and allows Republicans to win key districts which they would otherwise lose.

You can take a look at the map below:

The 6th District is currently represented by Republican Ryan Costello, who faces a challenge from Democrat Chrissy Houlahan and others.

The map was ordered to be redrawn by the state Supreme Court in January, when it determined the current district boundaries, drawn in 2011, were unconstitutional due to gerrymandering in favor of the Republicans.

The legislature had until Feb. 9 to offer up a replacement map and Wolf had until Feb. 15 to give it his stamp of approval and send to the court. But Wolf rejected the map submitted by the GOP members of the legislature, calling it partisan.

Since the legislature and the governor could not come to an agreement, the court was tasked with creating the map. Stanford University law professor Nathan Persily, who has a background in drawing political district maps, was hired to assist in the process.

Multiple sources say Republican leaders in the General Assembly are expected to attempt to challenge the map, but as PennLive.com reports, "unless and until they actually prevail in that challenge, these are the new lines effective with the 2018 election cycle."

An analysis by Politico says the new map creates "golden opportunities" for Democrats to pick up seats.

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