As Redistricting Passes House, Philly Cut to 3 Districts; Check out this Street-View Map
Every ten years, there’s mass-hysteria from the state minority party about redistricting, mostly because they have little-to-no say over the final map’s passage, and sometimes one or more of their districts get Nagasaki’d, metaphorically speaking. That was certainly the case this year (two western PA Democrats have been drawn into the same district), as some Legislature Democrats whined about how the Republican-introduced map created weird-looking, creeping and winding districts based around making it easier for incumbents to remain in office than, say, anything else. (Then Democrats introduced their own map, which did the same thing!)
You, lowly Philadelphian, have been divided up again by the Harrisburg powers-that-be. But only a little. Instead of four district (1, 2, 8, 13) representation, we’ve been cut down to three (1, 2, 13). Why, you ask? So, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick will have an easier time staying in office, that’s why! (In 2006 Fitzpatrick lost to former Rep. Patrick Murphy because of Northeast Philly Democrats in the classically swing district; Fitzpatrick beat the Iraq War vet back in 2010.)
Depending on where you live, you’re either represented by Bob Brady’s First (some of Northeast/South Philly), Chaka Fattah’s Second (Center City, West Philly, Northwest Philly) or Allyson Schwartz’s 13th (Northeast Philly, Cheltenham, west suburbs). Someone at the Daily Kos put together a congressional Google map (h/t PoliticsPA) where you can find out if you’re going to be playing the “My District Representative can beat up your District Representative” game with the guy across the street. Check it out in all its “zoom in” glory here. This is a screen-grab:




