Contact Your Legislator

Help us send a clear message to Harrisburg: Pennsylvanians want redistricting reform.

Contacting your state legislators is one of the most effective ways to help our cause. We recommend phone calls, in-person visits, email or printed letters.. Other things to keep in mind:

Always provide your name and where you live. Lawmakers want to talk to their constituents.
Remember, this is a bipartisan effort. Regardless of your affiliation, contact members of both parties.
Be polite. Regardless of their positions, thank legislators or their staff for their time.

Ready to get started? Follow these steps:

1. Find your state legislators

To find your legislators, go to the PA General Assembly locator tool, then use the drop-down list in our Advocacy Record Keeping tool. The tool shows contact info and also shows whether they have supported past reform efforts OR have signed on to new ones.

NOTE: the tool can take a moment to load, so be patient. Searching by district number is faster than legislator name.

2. Prepare your talking points

Prepared talking points will help you have a productive, accurate conversation.

If your representative or senator has co-sponsored, contact them to say thank you, as a reminder that this matters to you—a lot.
If they haven’t co-sponsored, ask them to.

In-person visits make the biggest impression. If you’d like help preparing for an in-person visit or want information about your legislator, submit this form.

See “Talking Points” below for more specific information.

3. Tell us how it went

Please report back on contact with legislators, staff or candidates, even requests for meetings that were ignored or refused. That helps us keep track of all contact efforts and can give us insight into legislator or candidate support or opposition.

If you had a meeting or if you were refused a meeting or if you had a substantial phone call or email conversation with a legislator or a staffer, please report back here.
If you sent an email or made a phone call to express your views and did not have a substantial conversation, or requested a meeting but were unable to schedule one, please log your communication here.

REDISTRICTING TALKING POINTS:

An overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania PA voters want an independent redistricting commission.

Voters of all parties and all parts of the state have expressed support for a genuinely independent redistricting commission, with no partisan oversight of commission selection or action. (Want more detail? Check our survey summary.)

A fully transparent public redistricting process would restore public trust.

Opening the process to public view and providing ample opportunity for the public to review and assess district maps can help repair trust in electoral outcomes and restore confidence in the legislative process.

Prioritized map-making criteria can provide more responsive maps that more accurately reflect voters’ wishes.

Prioritized criteria:

Protect the voting rights of minorities and communities of interest
Prohibit drawing districts to favor or disfavor individuals or parties
Provide numerical limits on the number of county splits
Define reasonable limits for population deviations between districts

Show all redistricting talking points

National PACs and super PACS are targeting PA.

We’re a big swing state with a large legislature and lax campaign finance laws. Both Republican and Democratic PACs are working hard to flip PA districts. So much outside money creates an even more negative tone and discourages good people from both sides from seeking public office.

The current process allows party leaders too much influence over other legislators.

The five-member commission in charge of legislative redistricting is controlled by party leaders who can and do punish rank-and-file members who vote against the party line.

Voters are more engaged than ever, and they demand change.

Redistricting reform has become a rallying cry among a range of groups, and voters are taking notice. Leaders who show their commitment to fairness and are willing to fix our system will win many fans—while those who don’t will lose the confidence of their voters. The 2019 Franklin & Marshall survey suggests 3 out of 5 PA voters are more likely to vote for a legislator who supports an independent commission.