Make Your Voices Heard Regarding the Redrawing of the 125th Legislative District
By Rep. Joe Kerwin (R-Dauphin/Schuylkill)
Recently, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted in a 3-2 party line vote to approve preliminary maps for the new state House districts. This redistricting process is separate from and does NOT involve the U.S. congressional maps.
The state House map, as currently drawn, would drastically change the way our district would be represented in Harrisburg. Many of the House legislative districts have been heavily altered and reflect substantial change from past redistricting efforts. The 125th District was not immune to an aggressive redrawing of its boundaries.
Below, I have specifically provided a graphic of how the new 125th District would look if this preliminary map is finalized as-is.
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| The graphic above is a snapshot from the new 2021 preliminary state House map from the Pennsylvania redistricting website, redistricting.state.pa.us. |
The graphic above is a snapshot from the new 2021 preliminary state House map from the Pennsylvania redistricting website,
redistricting.state.pa.us.
Under this preliminary map, municipalities of the current 125th District would be divided between three legislative districts:
The 125th District (highlighted in grey) would consist entirely of Dauphin County municipalities which includes the entirety of Halifax, Jackson, Jefferson, Lykens, Middle Paxton, Mifflin, Reed, Rush, Upper Paxton, Washington, Wayne, West Hanover, Wiconisco and Williams townships along with part of Lower Paxton Township (Districts 04, 09, 12, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 and 27). Berrysburg, Dauphin, Elizabethville, Gratz, Halifax, Lykens, Millersburg, Pillow and Williamstown boroughs would also be included in the 125th District as well.
The 107th District (highlighted in brown) would consist of PART of Schuylkill County which would include Barry, Eldred, Foster, Frailey, Hegins, Hubley, Pine Grove, Porter, Reilly, Tremont, Upper Mahantongo and Washington townships; and Pine Grove, Tower City and Tremont boroughs along with part of Northumberland County.
The 123rdth District (highlighted in light blue) would consist of PART of Schuylkill County which would include Pottsville City; Blythe, Branch, Butler, Cass, East Norwegian, New Castle, North Manheim, Norwegian, Wayne and West Mahanoy townships; and Ashland (Schuylkill County Portion), Cressona, Frackville, Gilberton, Girardville, Gordon, Mechanicsville, Middleport, Minersville, Mount Carbon, New Philadelphia, Palo Alto, Port Carbon, Schuylkill Haven and St. Clair boroughs.
Based on this map, the 125th District would see some of the most drastic changes in our region since Schuylkill County would no longer be included in the 125th District. The proposed 125th District would be a combination of populations from rural northern Dauphin County and portions of the Harrisburg area suburbs.
If you object to the proposed 125th District, if you object to anything that is proposed in the preliminary maps, or if you want to submit comments about other portions of the map, you can make your voice heard by submitting your objections (filing an exception) to the commission.
You may file your objections to the Legislative Reapportionment Commission by visiting
redistricting.state.pa.us/commission/article/1086 and select “submit exception for the House.”
The deadline to file your comments or objections is Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The Commission also held hearings on the preliminary maps on Jan. 6 and 7 and will be holding an ADDITIONAL two tentative hearings on Jan. 14, and on Jan. 15.
Those who wish to testify, or know of anyone who is interested in testifying, in-person or virtually, about how the map impacts their area can register to speak by visiting
redistricting.state.pa.us/commission/article/1087.
View the entire state House preliminary map by visiting
redistricting.state.pa.us/maps/ and selecting “Preliminary Map (Dave’s Redistricting)” under State House District Plans 2021.
For more information about the legislative reapportionment process, visit
redistricting.state.pa.us/.
If you have any other questions about this or any legislative issue, please contact my district office at 833-431-0495 or 570-385-8235.
Representative Joe Kerwin
125th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abby Krueger
717.260.6617
akrueger@pahousegop.com