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Lawsuit Filed Challenging Pennsylvania's Congressional District Map

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly are among defendants in a lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court Thursday that challenges one of Pennsylvania's congressional district maps as unconstitutional.

The suits takes shots at Pennsylvania's 2011 congressional district map, and alleges that Republicans ran the State House, Senate and governor's office in 2011 and colluded to draw a map than entrenched GOP power in Congress.

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"You can see how durable this gerrymander is," said Mimi McKenzie of the Public Interest Law Center.

The law center represent plaintiffs League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, as well as individual voters, alleging the map intentionally discriminates against Democrats.

In 2012, 2014 and 2016, Republicans won in 70-plus percent of districts, regardless of vote.

"That party engineered the map in such a way to guarantee that it would be able to hold a 13-5 advantage in congressional seats, no matter how the votes swung," said McKenzie.

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The plaintiffs are asking the court to block the 2011 map.

This suit is among many filed across the country. No word yet from the governor's office.

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