The County Council map: What kind of victory?

Allegheny County Council Democrats have been judicially confirmed as gerrymandering grubs. Pity, however, that a federal judge didn't use a full-strength pesticide to better control them.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Cindrich ruled Thursday that a Democrat-drawn reapportionment map illegally divided Pittsburgh into six county council districts when, based on population distribution, four sufficed. Democrats also illegally divided five city voting wards, he said.

The city gerrymandering, along with the consolidation of two Republican districts in the North Hills, was designed to deny Republicans any reasonable chance of gaining a majority on the 15-member council, now controlled 9-6 by Democrats. There are 13 districts; two seats are elected at large.

Democrats say they can address Judge Cindrich's concerns with ease, and without drawing an entirely new map. Republicans are prepared to fight for an entire map ''redraw.''

The latter likely would have been an automatic had Cindrich not passed on other quite credible GOP claims. They included a lack of equal protection for about 70,000 primarily Republican voters in the North Hills effectively disenfranchised for two years because of GOP district consolidation.

Judge Cindrich's ruling indeed slammed the Democrats for illegal gerrymandering. But it's certainly no slam-dunk for Republicans who - should they protest much more, should they seek to return the power of local reapportionment to Harrisburg, as some have suggested - stand to turn a partial victory into one Pyrrhic.