7th District and shape of things to come

One of the most hotly anticipated races in the mid-term 2018 elections is officially on hold.

The 7th District is likely to be at the center of the cauldron that is shaping up in the 2018 mid-terms.

Delaware County Republicans gathered Monday night at the Springfield Country Club. It was expected that they would offer their endorsement in the 7th District Congressional race. The 7th District, once centered in Delaware County, includes parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. However, in the current state of redistricting conflict, the lines are being redrawn.

The region’s Republicans are in the market for a new candidate because the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, announced he would not seek re-election after becoming embroiled in a scandal involving his use of taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a former aide.

First elected back in 2010, Meehan the former Delaware County district attorney and U.S. Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania, had cruised to three successive re-election victories, routinely piling up 60 percent of the vote.

Part of that was a product of the bizarre shape of the 7th District, the result of the controversial redistricting plan implemented by Republicans in the state Legislature in 2011.

The process is performed every 10 years, based on the results of the latest census information. Republicans in the state Legislature bent and contorted the district into two large masses that took what at one time was considered a tossup district and made it solidly Republican.

But the district became Exhibit A in the case against the process, and the scorn of those who claimed the entire process was “gerrymandered,” rigged by those drawing up the new borders to favor their own party.

The state Constitution mandates that districts be compact and contiguous, aside from some special extenuating circumstances.

One glance at the 7th – harpooned by critics as “Goofy Kicking Donald Duck” – shows that it clearly failed that test.

Both the Pa. Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court concurred, not only tossing the old maps but ordering the state Legislature to come up with new ones in time for the May primary.

It’s just one of the reasons Republicans are expecting a sterner test in the mid-terms.

There also is the anti-Trump sentiment that rocked county elections in November, with Democrats doing something they had not done in decades – namely winning countywide elections in both Delaware and Chester counties.

Piled on top of that is the #MeToo movement, women who have tired of the “old boys club” attitudes that have long dominated politics and centers of power. Sexual harassment claims have toppled any number of powerful men, from Washington, to Hollywood and even several media elites. Meehan’s own controversy resulted in him not seeking reelection.

Now both parties will be nominating candidates for what will be an open seat – and one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country.

Delco Republicans delayed offering their endorsement Monday night, citing the ongoing debate over just what the 7th District will eventually look like.

Republican leaders in the state Legislature barely met the Friday deadline to have a new congressional map in place.

It was immediately blasted by Democrats as being little better than their effort in 2011 that landed them in court in the first place.

Tuesday morning Gov. Wolf chimed in, saying he is rejecting the GOP plan because it uses the same partisan gerrymandering that was present in the original redistricting.

Wolf used a panel of experts to review the Republican plan before giving it the thumbs down. He had previously indicated that if he did not approve the GOP plan, he might submit one of his own to the courts. He has not yet said whether he will in fact do just that.

The 7th District - is likely to be at the center of the cauldron that is shaping up in the 2018 mid-terms.

Now if we just knew the shape of the district.