The Pennsylvania House Majority Leader may be a bit hyperbolic.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said he thinks the new preliminary map for redistricting the state House of Representatives is “a danger to our system of government.”

That seems like a reach. It’s a map, not a coup d’etat.

It’s also just the first draft. The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission — of which Benninghoff is a member — just approved the preliminary House and Senate redistricting maps Thursday.

The House map was approved by a 3-2 vote, with chairman and former University of Pittsburgh chancellor Mark Nordenberg as the swing vote.

Benninghoff’s protest isn’t because the map is biased toward Democrats. It is because it is not quite as biased toward Republicans as he would like. Nordenberg says both maps still favor the GOP.

A mathematical breakdown of the map by 17 different measures, including things like proportionality, turnout, boundaries and geography, bears that out. Fifteen of the categories lean Republican by thin or not-so-thin margins. Only two tip toward Democrats, and those are by less than 1% each.

And this teeter-totter is still GOP-heavy despite Pennsylvania going Democratic in the 2020 presidential election and tending toward the left in statewide races. It acknowledges the fact that Pennsylvania voters are not predictable, despite party affiliations. They are the swingiest of swing voters.

Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R- Westmoreland, was more reasonable in regard to the Senate map, which passed the panel unanimously. She did it, in part, to let the process move forward and, in part, because she expects the final version to change from its current incarnation, as first drafts usually do.

Benninghoff’s objections are not helpful to his party. They make the majority look grasping, as if more than half of the pie is not nearly enough. He should follow Ward’s example, work the process and trust the voters.

— The Tribune-Review (TNS)