Top Pa. Legislators Suddenly Receptive to Open Primaries, Redistricting Reform

Inside the capital

In a sign that entrenched Pa. incumbents are worried they may have gone just a tad too far in preserving their own job security, top legislative leaders are suddenly talking about reform. Believe it or not, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R. Jefferson) has said he will soon introduce to open primaries. And yesterday, a Senate Committee unanimously endorsed a bill that will overhaul the way that congressional and legislative districts are drawn.

Open Primaries. - Pa.'s primaries are currently closed. You have to be a Democrat to vote in a Democratic primary, and a Republican to vote in a Republican primary. Everyone else is shut out. Nine states, including Pa., have completely closed primaries.

The Inky has comments from the following legislative leaders:

Scarnati - “The extremes of the parties have taken over the primary process. ... I don’t know that I fit the new brand of conservatives, and I’m not so sure that some of the Democrats in the Senate Democrats fit the new brand of liberals.”

House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R. Indiana) - "I think giving independent voters that opportunity could help really reform the electoral process, get more people involved and hopefully get a more diverse set of opinions in the primary process, as opposed to only a select few choosing who gets to go on.”

Sen. Minority Leader Jay Costa (D. Allegheny) (through spokesperson Brittany Crampsie) - "Senator Costa is a strong supporter of active, participatory democracy – and is in favor of all legislation that allows more citizens to vote, and increases turnout amongst already-registered voters.”

Slaying the Gerrymander - Yesterday, the Senate State Government Committee amended a bill to replace the current political system of gerrymandering state legislative and US Congressional districts with a more independent 11-member Commission. FairDistrictsPa supports this compromise to the bipartisan bill offered by State Senators Lisa Boscola (D. Northampton) and Mario Scavello (R. Monroe).

According to FairDistrictPa's Carol Kuniholm, "it has strong safeguards for transparency, prohibitions against use of electoral data, constraints on splitting counties and municipalities, and mechanisms requiring broad buy-in among the commissioners and for the final map. Further safeguards in the selection process and mapping criteria will be added in implementing legislation, to be drafted in conversation with advocates and legislators from both parties.

"When evaluated against processes in place across the country, we believe this bill, with appropriate implementing legislation, would create one of the most fair redistricting processes in the country."

You can read more details here.

If successful, this will almost certainly be the most significant contribution to good government in the state since the turn of the century. And most amazing of al, it is the handiwork of legislators from the Lehigh Valley and Monroe. In addition to Boscola and Scavello, State Rep. Steve Samuelson has played a major role in redistricting reform.

Gerrymandering: How Our Elections Are Really Rigged - Part One

The original gerrymander

Do any of you know what gerrymandering is? Put in its simplest form, it's a process by which our legislators pick the voters instead of the other way around. It takes place every ten years, after the census. Though it's almost unnoticed, it is probably the biggest danger to our representative democracy. It's a rigged system, designed to provide job security for legislators who toe the line while punishing any who dare rebel. The fox is in the henhouse, as politicians themselves decide on new districts. They can extend their stay as long as they want. It has resulted in a Pennsylvania State legislature that is completely unresponsive to voters. And it's getting worse.  

On Friday night, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethlehem, a large group of nearly 100 people attended a gerrymandering panel discussion that included Pa LWV Board member Carol Kuniholm, State Sen. Lisa Boscola (Dem.), State Rep. David Parker (Rep.) and Common CausePA's Barry Kauffman. Boscola and Parker have teamed up with bi-partisan legislation to fix a broken system, but they will be the first to tell you nothing is going to happen unless voters themselves get involved and start pressuring their own legislators. In addition, leaders like House Democrat Frank Dermody and Republican Speaker Mike Turzai, who have been unwilling to act, need to be targeted.

Today's focus is the problem of gerrymandering itself, as laid out by Kuniholm. Tomorrow, I'll get into the bi-partisan legislative fix proposed by Boscola and Parker. Thursday, I'll tell you what wizened reformer Barry Kauffman thinks about the problem. Friday, I'll finish with what our local legislators are doing, or more accurately, not doing.

Over 100 people crowded into a hot church basement

Every time there's a poll of Pennsylvania voters, the issue that bothers them the most is school district funding. Most people think the state should contribute more, and less money should be coming out of their pockets in the form of increased property taxes. They want a fairer way to fund schools, and one that keeps seniors on fixed incomes in their homes. And of course, there has been a rash of bills over the years to change the way schools are funded.  Lisa Boscola herself has for years been a champion of property tax reform. But it always fails. It will continue to fail, too. That's because legislators no longer serve you. 

Though gerrymandering has existed since the 1800's, there was a big change in the 2012 election cycle. "Something went crazy," says Kuniholm. 

First, a new mapping technology called Maptitude provides locations of candidates and incumbents, census information, economic information and precinct-by-precinct reports of election results in previous elections. It's just the thing to have to draw a district so that a preferred candidate wins.         

Second, technology and computing power has made for a vast increase in data mining capabilities over the past ten years that Kuniholm calls the "difference between a horse and buggy and a rocket ship."

The third big change is money. In the wake of Citizens United, hybrid Super PACs have provided a huge infusion of undisclosed outside money that is then used to win elections. It can't be traced. 

Both parties have these hybrid SuperPACs.

RedMap2010

Pa. League of Women Voters Carol Kuniholm

For Republicans, it is RedMap2010, which dumped $30 million into state races to affect the redistricting, with the ultimate goal being control of the US Congress through reapportionment.  

Republicans admit this. They were able to buy Pennsylvania for just a little under $1 million in 2010, despite having fewer votes than Democrats. Here's what they themselves say:

"[T]he RSLC [Republican State leadership Committee] spent nearly $1 million in Pennsylvania House races in 2010 – an expenditure that helped provide the GOP with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Combined with former Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett’s victory in the gubernatorial race, Republicans took control of the state legislative and congressional redistricting process. The impact of this investment at the state level in 2010 is evident when examining the results of the 2012 election: Pennsylvanians reelected a Democratic U.S. Senator by nearly nine points and reelected President Obama by more than five points, but at the same time they added to the Republican ranks in the State House and returned a 13-5 Republican majority to the U.S. House." 

Things went so well that Republicans are raising $125 million for the 2020 redistricting, four times what they spent in 2010. 

By winning control of the state legislature, they were able to insure a nearly three to one advantage in Congress, despite having less numbers 

Advantage 2020

Before you get too upset at those evil Republicans, I have to tell you Democrats are now doing the same thing with a hybrid SuperPAC called Advantage 2020. They are focused on Pennsylvania, and have the 6th Pa. Congressional District featured on their homepage. This SuperPAC blasts the gerrymandering done by the GOP, but that's precisely what they want to do, too. 

Kuniholm failed to say how much money Democrats intend to raise, but it has to be substantial. 

The money spent by both parties has nothing to do with you. It is all about flipping districts to win control of the state legislature and, ultimately, Congress. He who controls the state legislature, controls redistricting. He who controls redistricting controls Congress. 

International groups on both sides contribute to these SuperPACS, so far all we know, China are Russia could be buying the Democrat or Republican Party

Focus is Winning and Control, Not Effective Governance 

This enhanced gerrymandering has resulted in a significant change in state government. The focus is winning and control instead of effective governance. Legislators who rebel and want to work for the common good end up being targeted or ignored.  

The political agenda is no longer what is right for the people, but is instead held hostage to outside moneyed influence. "That money that's pouring in is much more than what is being raised locally by the legislators," said Kuniholm. "There's a lot of research that shows that once that outside money comes into an election, the loyalty of those who are elected has shifted. They are no longer loyal to the constituents, who did not put them in office. They are loyal to the outside interests that put them in office."

At the same time, the extremes within the party of a safe district become the norm, leading to disaffection by everyone else. So nationally, 43% of Americans refuse to declare themselves with either party. In Pa, only 13% are independent, but that is only because primaries are closed.

"There's basically no effective choice," noted Kuniholm. To drive that point home, she said that 86% of our state incumbents had no primary challengers this year. For the general, 57% have no opposition.

"How do you vote them out if nobody's running against them?" she asked.

Coming Up: On Wednesday, I will bring you a bi-partisan legislative fix proposed by Senator Boscola and Representative Parker. On Thursday, I’ll tell you what Barry Kauffman thinks you can do. Friday, I'll report where LV legislators stand (or hide).