One Butler County representative's district has been suggested for elimination by 2023 as a result of the commonwealth losing one seat in the U.S. House.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Redistricting Committee on Monday called for Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District — currently held by Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Republican, and which includes parts of Butler and 13 other counties — to be eliminated as a result of the reapportionment.

PDRC cited population losses in central, northern and southwestern Pennsylvania as a reason to fold Thompson's seat.

Pennsylvania state director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee Fernando Treviño said eliminating the 15th District “provides the best opportunity to minimize the impact on representation in surrounding districts.”

The 15th District stretches from central Butler County on the west to Centre County on the east, with southern Cambria County as its southern edge and the state border its northern bound.

A call to Thompson's office was not returned as of press time.

More granular numbers on where Pennsylvania's population resides are not available, and when available will guide the state General Assembly as it undertakes the decennial redistricting task.

Although PDRC called for the seat's elimination as a result of population losses in much of the district, county Republican committee chairman Al Lindsay said its impact on Butler County would be unreasonable given the county's continued growth.“For them to suggest that they should eliminate a congressional seat representing Butler County is ridiculous in light of the fact that this is the fastest-growing county in the state and the sixth-fastest-growing county in the country,” Lindsay said.State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, suggested one alternative reason the PDRC wants to eliminate Thompson's seat specifically.“It's no surprise that they would want to get rid of a Republican seat,” she said.Although much of the county's population growth in recent years has stemmed from the southern tier of the county — currently represented by Reps. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Conor Lamb, D-17th — Lindsay said the county should not lose representation in Congress as a result of population losses in other parts of the state.“Why should we be losing representation in Butler County when we're the fastest-growing county in the state?” he asked.

Pennsylvania's redistricting process is handled by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, a five-member body whose first four members are the Senate and House majority and minority leaders. Those four members elect as the fifth member a chairperson.Although the commission is the body constitutionally granted the authority to redistrict, in 2018 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated the map the commission had drawn seven years prior, saying the map “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the state constitution.Lindsay said he thinks the court, which he called “Democratic,” overstepped its authority in throwing out the 2011 map.“I think, under the Constitution, the redistricting should be done by the legislative bodies,” Lindsay said. “I don't believe it should be a judicial process.”Mustello said while the reapportionment commission is in charge of drawing the maps — those for the U.S. House, state House and state Senate districts — she, as a General Assembly member, will have a say in its final passage.And while Lindsay believes the county's splintering into three congressional districts increases its voice in the U.S. House, Mustello has a different view.“My goal is, really, to put Butler County back together as a whole,” she said. “Three congressmen, that's a bit much. I would like to see Butler County back as one.”