Senate Maps in the Lehigh Valley
I’m writing to express my dissatisfaction and displeasure with the current Senate maps for the Lehigh Valley. There are serious errors that must be corrected in order for Lehigh Valley residents to have fair, equitable and effective representation. West Bethlehem, although in Lehigh County, should remain a part of the 18th Senate District because the Lehigh County portion of Bethlehem is better represented by a Northampton County senator, because the majority of the City of Bethlehem is in Northampton County. West Bethlehem should be removed from the 14th Senate District and returned to the 18th Senate District. Allentown is losing almost a third of its residents to the 18th Senate District with 14 total precincts being removed from the City of Allentown. This will deny many Allentown residents real and effective representation. I strongly encourage the Legislative Redistricting Commission to minimize Allentown splits. As proposed, too much of Lehigh County is omitted from the 14th Senate District. Lehigh County is the 10th largest county in the state of Pennsylvania. Yet the vast majority of it would be drawn into Berks County to create the 18th Senate District. This an injustice to Lehigh County voters. More Lehigh County municipalities must be added to the 14th Senate district to keep Lehigh County representation whole. In Northampton County, residents in the eastern part of the county have more in common with other southern and eastern areas and less with the slate belt communities. Keeping the 18th district more concentrated to the south and east would provide greater benefit to residents. Thank you John Gallagher