Supreme Court Won’t Save Pennsylvania’s GOP-Friendly Gerrymander

A new political map, more favorable to Democrats, will remain in place for the 2018 midterms.

The new congressional map enacted by the Pennsylvania state supreme court.Pennsylvania Supreme Court/www.pacourts.us

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

The Supreme Court will not intervene in the legal battle over Pennsylvania’s congressional map, allowing the 2018 midterms to take place using a new map more favorable to Democrats. The state supreme court put the new map in place last month after finding that the old one violated the state constitution because it was excessively gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.

Last month, the GOP leaders of the Pennsylvania legislature appealed the case to the US Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to get the new map thrown out. The justices waited nearly a month to announce whether they would weigh in on the case, causing election law experts to wonder if they might indeed take the case. But on Monday, the court released a one-sentence order stating that the Republicans’ appeal to the court had been denied.

The Supreme Court was the final court to weigh in on the matter. A federal district court on Monday also declined to take up the case.

The old map strongly favored Republicans, who consistently won 13 of the state’s 18 congressional seats in a state that is divided almost evenly. The new map will give Democrats more opportunities to win seats in November and could affect who controls the House of Representatives next year.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate