Fix Less Competitive House Map in Central Bucks
Thank you again for allowing citizens to have a voice in the redistricting process! Partisan gerrymandering is an issue I have studied for many years and feel strongly about as a voter. I am commenting today because I believe there is a need to revise the central Bucks County House districts. One only needs to “eyeball” the current vs. proposed Bucks House maps side-by-side to realize that the new maps represent improvement in creating compact districts. However, let's address the core issue fueling a lot of dialogue/debate here in Bucks – the level of competitiveness in the new districts. Notably, while the Princeton Gerrymandering project gave the new LRC House maps (overall) a “B” for geographic integrity, they also gave them an “F” for competitiveness. Competitiveness is a very important value to me, but I also acknowledge that not every district is meant to be competitive. Districts provide the voice of the people living there – whether that voice is dark blue, deep red, or somewhere in between. They should not be gerrymandered to be competitive any more than they should be gerrymandered to be uncompetitive. Overall Bucks is a purple county, but at the sub-county level, northern Bucks is more red and southern Bucks is more blue. It is really Central Bucks, where I live (Doylestown Township), that is more purple. This is where the problem with the maps lies specifically. Of the 4 main districts cutting through Central Bucks -- 29, 178, 31, and 144 – only 1 of them (144) is very competitive when they all should be quite competitive. The remaining 3 less-competitive districts seem “packed” to be safer seats for each party (2 D and 1 R). I certainly would not want my district to be a safe seat for either major party! The good news is that Central Bucks could be fixed relatively easily in the maps. I would particularly look at Wrightstown and Warwick townships to create more balanced districts while maintaining compactness and communities. Thank you again and best of luck with this challenging and important work.