GOP muscles judicial election change into redistricting bill

HARRISBURG » Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday moved to capitalize on the political momentum behind adopting a less partisan redistricting system to overhaul how state appeals judges are elected, drawing howls of protest from Democrats.

The GOP majority muscled provisions into a redistricting bill so that appeals court judges would be elected by district, rather than statewide. The measure would address long-standing Republican complaints that candidates from the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions win a disproportionate share of statewide judicial races, compared to candidates from the rest of the state.

The vote was 31-18, with every Democrat and two Republicans voting no. Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth court judges would be phased out as their current terms expire, and the courts would gradually be filled by those elected from districts.

If voters approve the bill’s citizens’ commission, the commission will draw the lines for legislative and congressional districts.

The move comes amid Republican backlash over Pennsylvania’s Democraticmajority Supreme Court overturning the state’s GOPdrawn map of congressional districts earlier this year.

The court’s Democrats — all from the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh areas — ruled that Republicans had unconstitutionally gerrymandered congressional boundaries. A court-ordered map of redrawn districts now in place is likely to shrink a 12-6 Republican advantage in Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation in a state where Democrats have won 18 of the last 24 statewide elections.

The bill would amend the constitution and requires passage twice in both the House and Senate before it can go before voters in a statewide referendum. That could happen as early as next year.

“This vote will take the idea of fairness in judicial selection to the people of Pennsylvania and let them have their say at the ballot box,” said Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington.

Democrats said shoehorning the judicial election provision into a bill setting up a commission to draw legislative and congressional district boundaries was a Republican power grab.

“This is going to result in one-party control of the appellate courts forever,” argued Sen. Daylin Leach, DMontgomery. He said it was ironic that the redistricting bill was the vehicle to “gerrymander the courts.”

“That’s how we got into this mess in the first place, allowing one political party to draw districts in a way that they find advantageous,” Leach said.

The sponsor, Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, said his amendment would allow lawmakers to add new seats on Superior or Commonwealth courts at any time, and redraw district lines to accommodate them.

Sen. Vincent Hughes, DPhiladelphia, called the amendment “retaliation or revenge” for the court-drawn congressional districts.