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Brigadier_Beavers t1_ivomzq0 wrote

Reply to comment by Sovereign2142 in If we flip the State House, I will have hope for this state for the first time ever. by DoctorSteve

I think its a holdover from Philly being the US capital long ago and the state wanted to mirror the federal government. Admittedly though without the state senate PA would be more conservative-representing. Pennsyltucky is real.

Edit: not saying theres more R than D voters in total, but gerrymandering and voter restrictions would be worse today if not for the state senate existing.

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Sovereign2142 t1_ivonxay wrote

That's exactly it, according to Wikipedia, the General Assembly actually was unicameral until 1791. Just 4 years after the Constitution was adopted.

Realistically, with multi-member districts and rank-choice voting we could eliminate a lot of the geographic advantage that Republicans have and get a legislature that more closely represents the voters' will. A unicameral legislature is just one part of it.

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DoctorSteve OP t1_ivpk4bg wrote

We need to do that. We can't let these empty rural counties dominate our politics if PA is going to be a modern state.

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