Rep. Costello to run again in 6th District
Although he was surprised and disappointed that federal courts refused to overturn the new Pennsylvania congressional district map, Republican Rep. Ryan Costello has decided to seek re-election in the newly configured 6th Congressional District.
A panel of federal judges on Monday dismissed a legal challenge by Costello and others to a congressional district map imposed last month by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The announcement of the court’s decision came less than two hours before
the U.S. Supreme Court refused to enter a stay in a similar case that had been requested by Republican leaders in the state House and Senate.
The twin decisions do not end litigation over the matter, but they make it very likely that this year’s congressional elections in Pennsylvania will be conducted under district lines widely viewed as more favorable to Democrats than a 2011 map the state court threw out in January.
Costello, the 6th District’s two-term-incumbent, said he was surprised by the federal court’s decision.
“I ama lawyer, and I have not read the decision, but I am surprised because I thought we did have legal standing,” he said, referring to his colleagues who joined with him in filing the challenge. “I think it is clear that the (state) Supreme Court did violate the U.S. Constitution in its holding.”
The previous 6th District included parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lebanon counties. The new district includes Chester County, most of southern Berks County and the City of Reading, which is heavily Democratic and could tip an election to the Democratic candidate.
Costello’s likely Democratic challenger is political newcomer Chrissy Houlahan.
“Pennsylvania has long been one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation and that map contributed to the dysfunction in Washington,” Houlahan said. “With this new map, I am hopeful that our voters will finally have fair representation in Congress. I look forward to bringing my real-world experience to Congress, where I will fight to create good jobs, expand access to affordable health care, improve and strengthen education, fight for veterans and hold this administration accountable.”
Both Costello and Houlahan said they plan to file nominating petitions in the new district on Tuesday.
The 6th District will now encompass the entirety of Chester County, rather than having the district include parts of Montgomery, Berks, and Lebanon counties. The rest of the new district would stretch north into Berks County and the City of Reading, which was previously in the 16th Congressional District.
The earlier state map has been a campaign winner for Republicans, leading themto a 13-5 edge in Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation for all three elections in which it was used, even though Democrats had a voter registration edge in the state.
The three-judge panel issued its decision with just one day left for the state’s congressional candidates to circulate petitions to get on the May 15 primary ballot. It said it had no authority to act in the matter except to dismiss the case.
“The plaintiffs invite us to opine on the appropriate balance of power between the Commonwealth’s legislature and judiciary in redistricting matters, and then to pass judgment on the propriety of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s actions under the United States Constitution,” the judges wrote. “These are things that, on the present record, we cannot do.”
The Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court had ruled in January that a map Republicans crafted in 2011 amounted to an unconstitutional gerrymander.
After lawmakers in the GOP-controlled General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf did not produce a replacement, the court enacted its own map last month and gave candidates extra time for petition gathering. At the time, Costello saidthat the state Supreme Court’s majority and Wolf had colluded in redrawing the state’s congressional district map, targeting him in particular to turn his district in favor of Houlahan, of Easttown.
“I think that this was a politically corrupt process,” Costello said from his office at the Historic Chester County Courthouse. He called on the state Legislature to begin impeachment proceedings against those on the high court who had voted in favor of the redistricting and redrew the map, “behind closed doors.”
He said the court gave the state Legislature little time to act on its order to redraw the state’s political map, and that the governor refused to negotiate with the Republican majority leaders in the two chambers of the General Assembly. The two branches worked together in violation of the state constitution, which gives the Legislature the power to set election districts, he claimed.
“It was rigged,” Costello told the Digital First Media. “It was rigged fromthe start.”