They argued that the populations of the districts have shifted so much in the past decade that using the previous boundaries would be unconstitutional, violating the "one person, one vote" principle of districts of roughly equal size.
Republican leaders would prefer to allow the Legislative Reapportionment Commission the time necessary to come up with a map that passes muster, even if that means moving the primary until June or July.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Delaware County Republican, said last week that the legislature would be willing to change the date.
Pileggi and Minority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) were the main plaintiffs seeking a restraining order Monday from federal District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick. The judge did not say when he would rule.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit could ultimately decide whether using the 2001 map would be legal.
Democratic leaders - Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa and House Minority Leader Frank Dermody - want the election to proceed on time, arguing that the primary campaign season has already begun.
Under state law, candidates for the legislature have just three weeks - from Jan. 24 to Feb. 16 - to collect hundreds of voter signatures to get onto primary election ballots. At least 300 voter signatures are needed to get onto the ballot as a House candidate, and 500 valid signatures for the Senate.
Those signatures then can be challenged in court.
Without knowing the boundaries of each district, it's impossible to say whether a signature from any given voter would be valid. The candidates wouldn't know if the voter - or, for that matter, the candidates themselves - lived in the appropriate legislative district.
