When Democrat Chelsa Wagner leaves the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in January, voters in Pittsburgh's South Hills area may not have a chance to elect the successor to her seat. Instead, that job would belong to voters on the other half of the state.

Although newly reapportioned House district maps have not yet been made official, Wagner's 22nd District, which includes Baldwin Township, Castle Shannon Borough and parts of Whitehall Borough and the City of Pittsburgh, is moving to the Allentown area—approximately 300 miles east.

Wagner, meanwhile, is set to become the new Allegheny County controller, having won election to that position in November.

As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains in a Dec. 4 article, "When Ms. Wagner takes over that Allegheny County office in January, her district will essentially disappear. It's one of four House seats set to move to more populous portions of the state under the still-pending legislative maps."

District reapportionment occurs once every 10 years.

The pending maps show that five House representatives in Allegheny County would pick up the pieces left behind by the 22nd District's move to Allentown: Harry A. Readshaw, Daniel Deasy, Jake Wheatley, Matthew H. Smith and William C. Kortz II.

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