Adjustments to Preliminary House Map
I submitted a map that goes along with my testimony. Thank you! I have lived in Lancaster County for almost my entire life. I posted both of the commission’s preliminary maps on social media to get viewpoints on the maps. The phrase that has been used to describe the state senate map is “I can live with it.” We can live with the state senate map. That means that both sides view it as a compromise that we can live with. We are a competitive state with diverse geography and population. We can not, however, live with the state house map. Most importantly for me, this map is a non-negotiable map for Lancaster County. I am a lifelong resident of my county, and I have shown people of all professions, backgrounds, and people who come from varying municipalities, the preliminary map that has been posted for the public to see. This map was not drawn in good faith, nor could an honest nonpartisan support it. This current map is not a starter with the majority of our county residents. In local elections in 2020 and 2021, local republicans won a majority of the vote in every municipality, except Lancaster Township and Lancaster City. The combined population of these municipalities is less than 80,000 people. It would be one thing, to not split Lancaster Township, you gave several Lancaster City precincts to a suburban district to make it a competitive district. This map does not do that. It intentionally adds Millersville to a Southern Lancaster City district to gerrymander an extra democratic district to the North. A majority of Lancaster County residents from all over the county are EXTREMELY upset at this democratic gerrymander of our county. There is NO reason to split Lancaster City, and this map does that to sink suburban, and Republican Manheim Township into a safe Democratic district. You put Millersville, a small college town located across the street from Penn Manor High School, a school that services a largely rural school district, into a district with Lancaster City. I am CONDEMNING this democratic gerrymander of a map on all counts. You place my home in Manheim Township in the new 96th district, a district that will be a majority suburban, instead of a previously urban district, but will act as a democratic sinkhole. Why did you tear apart the previous 97th district? The previous 97th district for decades, as a premise, contained most of Manheim Township, the entire Borough of Lititz, and the entirety of Warwick Township. With this map, you are putting a township with farms into an urban-dominated district. We were paired with Lititz for years because culturally, we vote very similarly to how Lititz votes and property values are similar. In this new district you drew for a majority of Manheim Township, you drew us into the dissimilar Lancaster City. Once again, I completely condemn this blatant democratic gerrymander of my county. The districts in Lancaster County aren’t even contiguous. The 41st has part of its district surrounded by the 96th, making the district non-contiguous. There are multiple interloping districts alongside the 41st are that are not contiguous. This makes this map unconstitutional. So what did I do? I followed the history of our districts. East Petersburg and East Hempfield was moved back into the 37, and Manheim Township was paired with its historic district partners of Lititz and Warwick Township, although not all of the latter will be in the 96th district. The benefit of my map is that for the first time in history, Manheim Township democrats will have a voice. The current preliminary map will allow Lancaster City democrats to swamp Manheim Township democrats in a primary election for the state house. Lancaster City democrats will already have control of the newly drawn 50th. This map will give suburban democrats in my county an actual chance of electing one of their own in this decade. But likewise, it will create a truly competitive district. Manheim Township has been the center of close elections as of late. In 2020 Joe Biden won my home township by 6 points. My Republican state representative won it by 7. My Republican state Senator and congressman both won it by 5. Republicans won 9/10 local elections in 2021, only losing one school board seat. The average margin of these races was two and a half percent. So why should we not have a competitive state house seat? I have spoken to upset citizens across the commonwealth, and they don’t believe the preliminary maps will stick, because they still have faith in this commission to change the map to something fair. Erie County, a County that votes 50-50 in local and state elections, has 4 state house districts located entirely within the county. I made a slight modification to the county house seats. I made it so there is 1 safe Republican, 1 safe Democrat, and 2 competitive seats. I also made the house seats in Centre County more compact. There is no serious or respectable reason to split the borough of State College. This new map only makes minor changes to the current preliminary one, but these are necessary changes. I rearranged Lancaster County slightly for a new map, but even with this one, I don’t know if Republicans would accept it, because it still splits Lancaster City. If you even want the current map of having a chance of being accepted by the state of Pennsylvania, you need to cut Millersville out of the 50th and give it to the 97th. The current preliminary map, if implemented, will result in protests taking place outside of the homes and offices of the members of this commission. To prevent that, we need to make sure a bipartisan agreement takes place. The current preliminary map has 8 non-contiguous districts. The one I am proposing has 0, which will help it stand up in court should a lawsuit occur. This process is important, and its important both sides are able to walk away with a compromise they can live with. I am willing to testify before this commission if necessary to provide further proof on why my map should be chosen. Thank you, and god bless you all.