For comparison, there were 41 U.S. House candidates, including 16 incumbents, on Pennsylvania's primary ballots in 2016. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court — which has a 5-2 Democratic majority — will hear arguments in the 7-month-old case urging the court to throw out Pennsylvania's congressional districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander that unfairly favors Republicans. Now, Steve Bloom, a Republican state representative from the Carlisle area, is campaigning to succeed Barletta, who is running instead for U.S. Senate. In court filings, the plaintiffs — a group of Democratic voters — asked the state Supreme Court to redraw district boundaries if the Legislature and governor cannot do it within a two-week window. In any case, the defense team would "pursue all possible avenues" to appeal an adverse ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, a defense lawyer, Robert Tucker, said.

Source: ABC News January 15, 2018 17:36 UTC