If State Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, wants to continue representing the 54th Legislative District, he may have to move to southeastern Pennsylvania to do it.

Under the proposal for redistricting House seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Brooks’ hometown of Murrysville would be split in two. It would be absorbed by the neighboring 55th and 56th Districts, and a new 54th District would be created in Norristown, near Philadelphia.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Brooks said. “You would expect that they’d want to keep school districts, communities, points of interest together.”

And, Brooks pointed out, that is generally what the state’s Constitution lays out when it comes to redistricting.

“They did the same thing in North Huntingdon,” said Westmoreland County Republican Chair Bill Bretz of Hempfield. “Rep. George Dunbar (R-Penn Twp.) is affected by both moves.”

Dunbar’s 56th District covers Penn Township, North Huntingdon, Irwin and North Irwin.

“I was quite surprised,” Dunbar said.

The House approved the new congressional map Wednesday, but its fate remains unclear as a court-mandated deadline looms. The map, which will help determine the balance of power in Washington, passed with support from all but two of the chamber’s Republicans and from none of the Democrats. It now goes to the state Senate for consideration.

Dunbar said the redistricting map drawn by the legislative redistricting commission is unconstitutional because it did not fit the criteria for compatibility. Norwin and Franklin Regional school districts would be divided among two legislators.

Dunbar isn’t affected quite as much as Brooks, though.

“The problem, as I see it, is that if Rep. Dunbar has 65,000 constituents, and only 10,000 of them are in Murrysville, where is his emphasis going to be?” Brooks asked. “I would hope it would be for both, but you never know.”

Related:

• Pa. House approves proposed congressional map as court challenges loom

Several House Republicans have expressed opposition to the proposed redistricting maps, created by a bipartisan commission that includes Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa and their counterparts in the House. It is chaired by former University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg.

“From what I can see, the preliminary maps that were approved by the LRC make no logical sense,” said Republican Rep. Carrie DelRosso, whose 33rd District would no longer include any parts of Westmoreland County. “I think it is very reasonable to ask (chairman) Nordenberg how these maps were settled on and why he thinks they make the most sense for our Commonwealth. Gerrymandering is not how you ensure a district, or a state, fair representation.”

Democrats see the proposed map as undoing years of unfair Republican gerrymandering and political advantage.

“The preliminary districts I’ve seen are certainly more fair than they were,” said Tara Yokopenic, chair for the Westmoreland County Democrats. “Obviously, we want to keep towns together as best as we can. But Westmoreland lost 10,000 residents, and I expected that we would lose a rep.”

Dunbar said he believed that Nordenberg simply used the “D” redistricting map for the state House districts, without any negotiations between Democrats and Republicans. “There was no discussion. Nordenberg just drew his own map,” Dunbar claimed.

He said the decision to add North Huntingdon to the district currently served by State Rep. Eric Davanzo, R-Rostraver, made little sense because Davanzo’s district is based in the Mon Valley section of the county.

“There’s no common interests” that connect the Mon Valley with North Huntingdon, Dunbar said.

Chris Borick, a political science professor and director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said that redistricting often involves “competing goals taking place within demographic realities.” And for Southwestern Pennsylvania, the reality is that the region is losing population while the southeastern corner of the state is gaining it.

“You’re never going to get perfect satisfaction from the redistricting process,” Borick said. “There will be winners and losers. The reality is, the west is losing this year no matter the configuration.”

The preliminary map was approved by a 3-2 vote of the commission, with Nordenberg breaking the partisan tie vote and siding with Democrats.

Bretz said the proposed redistricting is unfortunate for Westmoreland County residents because they will lose several voices in the Legislature.

“Bob Brooks’ and Jason Silvis’ districts are largely being consolidated into one,” Bretz said. “Then we have Reps. Ryan Warner and Carrie DelRosso who will no longer have any part of Westmoreland County. That’s three fewer voices representing Westmoreland County in Harrisburg.”

In Bretz’s hometown, Hempfield, consolidation efforts by the commission resulted in the township being fully contained with State Rep. Eric Nelson’s 57th District. But Bretz wasn’t wild about that, either.

“We had four or five different state reps with districts in Hempfield,” he said. “And it was great, because we had four or five people we could raise concerns with. Now we’ll have one. And again, that’s the Constitutional aim, but it also means fewer people speaking up for us in Harrisburg.”

Yokopenic felt that Bretz had it backwards.

“I don’t think he’s making the point he thinks he’s making,” Yokopenic said. “Having five state reps seemed to mostly cause confusion. We would get a lot of calls from people, especially during the (59th District) special election, asking if they lived in the district or not.

“I think Hempfield needs one state rep,” she said.

For communities like Murrysville that have grown used to a single representative in the state House, being split up is often viewed negatively, according to Borick.

“The western side of the state is going to have fewer districts, and that’s ultimately going to mean some changes have to take place,” he said. “And certainly you’re going to end up with folks who are displeased, especially in the area where you’re losing a seat.”

The commission is taking public testimony and comments on the proposal. Those can be submitted at Redistricting.state.pa.us/comment. Public input will be taken through Jan. 18.

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