Pa. Redistricting Could Bring Huntingdon Lawmaker into Centre Co.

Part of Centre County would be represented by state Rep. Mike Fleck, a Huntingdon County Republican, under a legislative redistricting plan that’s now unfolding in Harrisburg, Fleck said last week.

Exact, official details of the redistricting plan were not immediately available late last week. But political sources said it’s most likely that Fleck’s Huntingdon-area House district would expand up into the southern reaches of Centre County, in State College-area municipalities such as Ferguson and Patton townships.

That’s part of the district now represented by state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township.

Conklin’s district — the 77th — saw some of the fastest population growth in Pennsylvania since the last legislative redistricting process, in 2000, Conklin said.

Because of that, he told StateCollege.com, Conklin knows his district ‘is over-populated.’

‘My district needs to lose some’ population, Conklin said. ‘I do have to give up some of my district.’

The population in the 77th is now in the 75,000 range. The redistricting process emerging in Harrisburg — largely behind closed doors for now — will aim to make sure each redrawn House district includes between 62,000 and 63,000 residents, Conklin said.

Fleck, speaking at a grant event in State College, broke the news Thursday that he expects to represent part of Centre County when legislative-district boundaries are redrawn.

Reached later by phone, he said proposed redistricting maps should be released formally this week. That release will be followed by a period of public comment, he said.

Pennsylvania undergoes legislative redistricting once every 10 years.

Fleck’s district — the 81st — includes part of Blair County. As he noted, Blair County has seen sluggish population trends while Centre County has grown markedly.

In an online biography, Fleck identifies himself as a lifelong Huntingdon Countian. An alumnus of Liberty and Shippensburg universities, he was elected to the state House in November 2006.

StateCollege.com will post more information about this developing story as it becomes available.