A group that filed a lawsuit over Pennsylvania’s new congressional district map asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to look into whether they are entitled to an emergency order to halt it from taking effect.
Six plaintiffs, including two Republicans running for Congress this year, claim that the new map favors Democrats, citing a move to place Republican U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson and Fred Keller into the same central district in the state. They argue it is the Legislature that must approve the 17-district map, not the state court.
“Relief is urgently needed because candidates are already campaigning for office under this unconstitutional map, and the statutory deadline for obtaining the needed signatures on nomination petitions is March 8,” the plaintiffs told the Supreme Court in filings Monday.
The Supreme Court requested a response by late Thursday.
PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT PICKS CONGRESSIONAL MAP FAVORABLE TO DEMOCRATS
The petition to the high court comes just days after a Harrisburg district judge denied their request for a temporary restraining order against the map, saying she would first sort “jurisdictional issues,” to which plaintiffs say those concerns pertain to whether they have the standing to challenge the map.
In the 4-3 ruling last week, the Democratic-leaning state Supreme Court selected the so-called Carter plan, which removes a heavily Republican district and leaves nearly 90% of residents in the same district as the previous map, according to Spotlight PA.
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The Republican-led state Legislature passed a map that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed last month, arguing that the map was unfair. As a result, the lower Commonwealth Court began evaluating different map options until the state Supreme Court took over.
Meanwhile, a similar request was made to the high court last week pertaining to a North Carolina congressional redistricting map. Republican lawmakers in the state asked the Supreme Court for a stay of a recent lower court decision that found the state’s 14 U.S. House seats were unconstitutionally gerrymandered.
