Governor Tom Wolf visited State College on Tuesday to talk with residents about ways to draw a new congressional map for the state.
Joined by about 100 local residents, a panel of Penn State faculty and students and community leaders, Wolf said the goal is to have a fair map.
State College was the first stop as Wolf makes his way across the state to take input from constituents.
The state supreme court ruled last week that the current map is unconstitutional and gave the legislature until February 9th to deliver a new map to Wolf.
Wolf said the map should be compact and keep townships and cities undivided. He’s even enlisted a mathematics expert for help.
“We need to bend over backwards and use everything we can to judge whether what I’m going to get and what I’m going to present to the supreme court is, in fact, fair,” Wolf said.
Debbie Trudeau, a coordinator for Fair Districts PA, has her own idea of what the new map should look like.
“I think we are now familiar with that ‘Donald kicking Goofy’ that is the Pennsylvania 7th congressional district. It shouldn’t look like that," Trudeau said. "It should look more like an oval, circle – something with a shorter boundary.”
Fair Districts PA advocates for an independent citizens commission to draw congressional maps.
Governor Wolf has until February 15th to approve a new map.
