The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled on new congressional districts which will take effect in the 2022 midterm elections, moving Carbon County into a district with Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Polk and Eldred townships and part of Ross Township in Monroe County are also in the 7th District now represented by Susan Wild.

Schuylkill County, represented by Republican Dan Meuser, is connected with a portion on Berks, Luzerne County and several counties north of there.

Pennsylvania lost one congressional seat after the 2020 census, due to slower population growth than other states.

The courts took up the congressional maps after Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-led state House and Senate failed to agree on a map. Wolf, who vetoed the legislature’s plan, praised the court’s decision.

“The ‘Carter Plan’ is a fair map that will result in a congressional delegation mirroring the people of Pennsylvania - without favoring one party,” Wolf said in a tweet.

State Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks, who held multiple hearings on the maps as chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, said the decision should not have been made by the courts in the first place.

“It’s unfortunate that the PA Supreme Court was forced to make this selection. I was committed to crafting a bipartisan map that could receive a majority of votes in the Senate and the House, but unfortunately Gov. Wolf refused to work with us … he continues to act as if he is a king, not a governor.”

The new map

Observers predict that the map will produce a congressional delegation similar to the current one, which has eight Democrats and eight Republicans.

However voters in Carbon and surrounding counties will see changes in the makeup of their congressional districts.

Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, which has been held by Republican Dan Meuser since 2019, will no longer include Carbon County, but still includes Schuylkill County.

The newly drawn district will lean slightly more Republican than the current 9th, according to FiveThirtyEight, a website which focuses on opinion poll analysis and politics.

Meuser nearly doubled the votes received by his Democrat challenger in the 2020 election.

However, he will now face a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, 12th District. Keller was drawn into another district, but a large portion of the former 12th was included in the redrawn 9th.

Meuser said in a statement on Wednesday that he looks forward to running for re-election.

“It looks like over 70 percent of my current district, PA-9, has remained intact, which I am grateful for. Although I am not happy with many aspects of the map, I do look forward to running for re-election in PA-9.”

Schuylkill County Commissioners’ Chairman Barron “Boots” Hetherington, a Republican, said Meuser has been a good representative for Schuylkill County, but he also thinks highly of Keller. He would rather have a map where incumbent congressmen aren’t forced to run against one another.

“Why don’t we go somewhere there is an open seat, where neither party has an incumbent?” Hetherington said.

What it means

Carbon County will now be part of the 7th Congressional District, which has been held by Democrat Susan Wild since 2019. The map drawers said that Carbon County was a logical fit with the Lehigh Valley because they are considered one metropolitan area under the U.S. Census. Polk and Eldred townships, and part of Ross Township, also become part of the 7th district.

Wild beat Republican challenger Lisa Scheller by 3.8% in the 2020 election. The redrawn district is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, according to FiveThirtyEight. Scheller plans to run again.

Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, a Republican, said it is still likely that the county will be represented by a Democrat despite having a Republican majority, due to Democrats holding a registration advantage in the redrawn district.

Lukasevich said that while party affiliation often represents a candidate’s beliefs and principles, he is hopeful, “that regardless of party or county from which Carbon’s next congressional member hails, he/she will represent Carbon’s interests with vigor and tenacity in D.C.”

The 8th Congressional District extends further into Monroe County, including part of Ross Township. The district is represented by Democrat Matt Cartwright, who was first elected to congress in 2012. The 8th District is still rated as “lean Republican” by FiveThirtyEight.

Cartwright defeated Republican challenger Jim Bognet by 3.6% in 2020. Bognet said he plans to run again.