Fattah on Redistricting: 'I'll Leave the Politics ... For Another Day'

Rep. Chaka Fattah will be counting on votes from areas he doesn't currently represent if he runs for re-election in 2012.

For now, though, it's still 2011, and he doesn't care to discuss the matter.

“I’ll leave the politics of 2012 for another day," he said in a statement.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law Thursday  that was approved by the state Legislature.

Under the plan, Fattah's district would keep parts of Philadelphia like Mt. Airy, Chestnut Hill, Manayunk and Roxborough. But it would also include the majority of Lower Merion and all of Narberth—places that weren't part of the district before.

Fattah said for now, he represents those parts of Northwest Philadelphia. "I’m focused on my responsibilities to the more than 600,000 residents of the current district.”

Cheltenham would also no longer be part of the district. It will be placed into the territory currently represented by Rep. Allyson Schwartz.

The total new territory covers 705,688 citizens.

The state Constitution required the congressional lines be redrawn this year. Republicans, who have a majority in both the state House and Senate, controlled the process throughout.