Court rejects Pennsylvania district map challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Republican effort to block a new congressional map in Pennsylvania before Tuesday’s filing deadline for the May 15 primary. Republican leaders in the state asked the court to issue a temporary injunction against the map while the legal challenge played out. The high court ruling offered the second blow Monday to Republican hopes to stall the redistricting effort. Earlier in the day, a panel of federal judges threw out the challenge to the newly drawn map. Eight Republican U.S. congressmen and two Republican state senators filed the lawsuit last month after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court redrew the state map. In January, the state high court determined the map drawn by Republicans in 2011 violated the state constitution. The panel of judges from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania rejected the legal challenge Monday, leaving in place the Pennsylvania Supreme Court map Republicans claim will help Democrats win elections. While elections officials must finalize the primary ballots Tuesday, they’re also continuing to count ballots in the special election for the state’s 18th District, near Pittsburgh. Democrat Conor Lamb maintains a slim lead of roughly 600 votes. That election was the last one using the old map. The elections in November will use the new map unless a federal appeals court decides to block it.