Are new Pa. maps attempting to stop Black candidates from winning elections?

REP. SUMMER LEE, who is now running for Congress, about the new redistricting maps: “I’m not naive…I understand what they’re trying to stop here, they’re trying to stop a Black woman from building power for poor and working folks, for Black and brown folks in the region.”

THE ‘ART’ OF ‘REDISTRICTING’

 It’s already hard enough for African Americans in the U.S. to gain the political clout necessary to win statewide or local elections—Blacks oftentimes simply don’t have the population numbers needed in said districts.

But when you throw in “gerrymandering,” or as some political analysts call it, “racial gerrymandering,” it makes it that much harder for African American politicians.

Every 10 years, states in the U.S. draw “redistricting” maps, dividing the state into districts (seats) to contribute to the U.S. Congress. There are 535 members of Congress—100 are Senators, 435 are members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Each of the 50 states always has two Senators, but the 435 House members are determined by the population of the state. In a humongous state like California, it was determined for the next 10 years that it will have 52 U.S. House districts. In a very small state like Hawaii, it will have two U.S. House districts.

But in Pennsylvania, a state with a population of nearly 13 million, it’s hovered around 16-20 U.S. House districts over the decades. In the 2020 elections, Pennsylvania had 18 U.S. House districts. But due to a slight population loss, the Keystone State now will have 17 U.S. House districts for the next decade.

Losing one Congressional seat in the state to 17 (odd number) means that either Republicans or Democrats will have a majority in the state, which could give either party a larger advantage in Congress for passing (or declining) certain legislation nationally.

Having the party advantage is serious business. And that’s why, for years, political scientists have watched Republicans fight for certain “redistricting” maps that could give them an advantage here and there. Democrats fight, too.

Thus, when Democratic State Rep. Summer Lee, an African American woman from North Braddock who is the first Black woman to hold the office of State Representative in Southwestern Pennsylvania, announced her run for U.S. Congress in October 2021, she thought she’d be running in the 18th District. It’s a district that’s been represented by Mike Doyle, a Democrat, for 25 years, and extends into much of the Mon Valley areas like Swissvale, Braddock, etc. Congressman Doyle is retiring, and it happens to be an area that has largely been supportive of Rep. Lee, who defeated a longtime incumbent (Paul Costa) to claim the 34th State House District a few years ago.

But when the new maps were announced last month, not only did Pennsylvania lose a Congressional seat, but the 17th and 12th districts literally split up the Mon Valley. Representative Lee’s Swissvale residence is now in the 17th District, which leans towards the City of Pittsburgh and all of the Republican-leaning Beaver County. However, much of her family and political supporters reside in the neighboring 12th District, which extends into Westmoreland County.

State law gives a candidate the ability to run for Congressional office in any district, so while Rep. Lee rests her head at night in the 17th District, she’s decided to run for the 12th District seat where much of her supporters live. In effect, the supporters of Rep. Lee who now live in the 17th District will not be able to vote for her. This is what some experts call “racial gerrymandering,” splitting the support of a well-known, well-connected Black candidate who could affect legislation on a national level as a member of Congress, lessening her ability to get elected.

Redistricting also, in effect, forced another Black woman to drop her campaign for a State House seat. Ashley Comans, known in the community largely as a former Wilkinsburg School Board director (Wilkinsburg refers to its board members as board directors), announced her candidacy to fill the open House District 24 seat vacated by Ed Gainey, now Pittsburgh’s mayor. But when the new State House District maps were redrawn, it took the borough of Wilkinsburg, which was represented by the 24th District, and put it in the 34th District. The 34th District is already represented by Rep. Lee, and Comans decided not to run for a seat already occupied by her comrade. The redistricting map also had Black candidates like NaTisha Washington, a Wilkinsburg resident, and Martell Covington rethinking their plans, though they decided to continue their campaigns.

The 19th State House District, which has been held for years by Jake Wheatley, an African American, was altered some thanks to redistricting. Wheatley resigned to become Mayor Gainey’s Chief of Staff, but it’s unknown the reasoning behind Wheatley’s resignation.

Chris Moore, longtime KDKA Radio (100.1 FM, 1020 AM) host, asked Rep. Lee during an interview last month how she felt about the new map: “I’ll say this,” Rep. Lee responded, “I guess it may be a coincidence that I live in the only municipal split in the county and the only precinct-level split and that only my mom’s block where I used to live and my block where I live were drawn out of district…that may all be a coincidence…It’s less about me and more about the trend that we see nationwide that during the redistricting years we’re seeing Black communities used as sacrificial lambs to make other districts safer. Oftentimes, to help make more red-leaning or conservative districts safer, they’ll take Black neighborhoods and they’ll cut them up.”

Representative Lee, later in the interview, added: “I’m not naive…I understand what they’re trying to stop here, they’re trying to stop a Black woman from building power for poor and working folks, for Black and brown folks in the region, where we’ve rarely had political power for Black people.”

Representative Lee also made it a point to tell listeners that while Republicans and Democrats in the state spar over what the redistricting maps will look like, Democrats can’t be fully exonerated in their role of the map creation. In this tense negotiation of give-and-take between the two parties, Rep. Lee said that some Democrats didn’t fight hard enough to keep her district from splitting. In the Congressional redistricting map for Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the map, and the approval had to be made by the Pa. Supreme Court. For the State House and State Senate maps, it was approved by a five-member panel called the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

“We shouldn’t forget this,” Rep. Lee told Moore on KDKA Radio, Feb. 28. “…There are people who have a vested interest in ensuring that Black women don’t make it to Congress, don’t make it to State Houses, don’t make it to borough councils.”

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