Pennsylvania governor vetoes GOP-approved congressional map

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday vetoed a GOP-backed congressional map for the state, saying that it “failed the test of fundamental fairness.”

Writing in a veto message that the proposed map sent to him by Republican state lawmakers earlier in the week was the result of “a partisan political process,” Wolf said it “does not deliver on the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantee of free and equal elections.”

“The people of Pennsylvania deserve a fair election map that promotes accountability and responsiveness to voters and is drawn in an open and honest way,” wrote Wolf.

Wolf opined that instead of delivering this, the map took “advantage” of the political process and allowed politicians to pick their own voters.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Seth Grove (R), the primary sponsor of the bill containing the map, lambasted Wolf’s veto as “vague and partisan.”

“Under the cover of darkness, much like the development of Gov. Tom Wolf’s map, the governor issued a vague and partisan gerrymandered-filled veto of the first citizens’ congressional map ever adopted by the General Assembly,” said Grove in a statement.

“Once again, Wolf has shown his failed leadership through his unwillingness to work across the aisle with Republicans in the Legislature on a constitutionally mandated requirement,” Grove continued.

Following Wolf’s veto of the map, the Pennsylvania judicial system will now likely have final say over the newly drawn districts, as the investigative news organization Spotlight PA noted.

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court asked Wolf and citizen petitioners as well as top Democratic and Republican lawmakers to submit their proposed maps in December in response to lawsuits, according to Spotlight PA.

Hearings on the 14 proposed maps will take place in the court on Thursday and Friday, with a ruling possible as soon as Jan. 30.