On February 8, U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick, a Clinton appointee, ruled that Pennsylvania should use the legislative districts based on the 2000 census in 2012. The 2012 redistricting plan for the legislature had been struck down last month by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had said for 2012, the old districts should be in force.

Then, a federal lawsuit was filed to invalidate using the old districts, on grounds that the populations of the districts are no longer equal in population. But, the federal judge said because the primary is in April, there is nothing practical to do except use the old districts. The case is Pileggi v Aichele, eastern district, cv-12-0588.

The ruling says postponing the primary is not realistic because there is also a presidential primary set for April. His decision doesn’t mention the idea of having two primaries, one for president and one for legislative candidates. However, eighteen states have different primary dates for president than for other office: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.