Apr 26, 2018 2 min read

Thank you for your editorial, “Metcalfe’s political stunt brings ‘Daryl-mandering’ to Pennsylvania,” highlighting how Daryl Metcalfe, the state legislator from Cranberry, completely changed the purpose of a very popular bipartisan bill escalating political gerrymandering by incumbents. Your new word, “Daryl-mandering,” calls it what it is! Even though there were more than 100 co-sponsors, Metcalfe and his cronies rewrote House Bill 722 to give the majority party more power to redraw districts. This was an all-time low maneuver and a partisan power grab that went against the will of Pennsylvanians.

But let’s not give up hope. Senate Bill 22 is moving ahead smoothly and will be addressed this week. SB 22 is widely supported, also calling for an independent commission to choose districts, thus ending gerrymandering. It’s looking like SB 22 will pass, although once it enters the House, “Daryl-mandering” could again occur.

Passing these bills to change the Pennsylvania Constitution is a complicated procedure. Your representatives need to hear from you. Contact your senator now and tell him or her you support SB 22. If Camera Bartolotta is your senator, give her thanks for supporting SB 22 and fair elections that are critical to our democracy.

Jenny Bardwell

Mt. Morris