Pennsylvania Congressional Districts, 118th Congress

After the 2000 census, the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

was divided into 19 congressional districts, decreasing from 21 due to

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionme ...

. After the 2010 census, the number of districts decreased again to 18. In the 2022 midterms, per the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Pennsylvania lost one congressional seat, bringing the delegation's number to 17 districts. On January 22, 2018, the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...

ruled in ''League of Women Voters v. Commonwealth'' that the congressional districts were an unlawful partisan gerrymander in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The

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and

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failed to reach an agreement for a revised district map. Therefore, on February 19, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new congressional map. That map is estimated to have a partisan balance of 10 Republican-leaning and 8 Democratic-leaning seats. The court-mandated map was set to apply beginning with the primary elections on May 15, 2018. Republican lawmakers in the state asked for a

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from the

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and brought suit in federal court, seeking an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

against using the court-drawn map in the upcoming congressional elections. Both attempts failed on March 19, 2018, following rulings by the Supreme Court and a Pennsylvania federal district court.

Current districts and representatives

The congressional delegation from Pennsylvania consists of 17 members. In the current delegation, 9 representatives are Democrats and 8 are Republicans. Prior to the 2018 House elections, the Republicans had held 12 seats to 6 for the Democrats, and prior to the March 2018 special election in the 18th district, the delegation had consisted of 13 Republicans and 5 Democrats. The list below identifies the members of the Pennsylvanian United States House delegation, their service start dates, and current court-ordered district boundaries.

2012 redistricting and gerrymandering challenge

2012 Pennsylvania congressional districts by party

Following the 2010 census, redistricting in Pennsylvania was controlled by elected officials from the Republican party. In 2012, Pennsylvania realigned a number of districts. A number of sitting congressional representatives had their districts modified or merged as part of the redistricting. The merger of districts 4 and 12 forced a primary runoff between the two sitting congressional representatives. The 2012 redistricting process resulted in a map that disproportionately favored Republican candidates. In the 2012 congressional elections, Democratic candidates won 50.5% of the total votes cast. However, only five of the state's 18 federal Representatives (27.78%) were Democrats. On June 14, 2017, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit, alleging that the district boundaries constituted an

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

partisan gerrymander. The case was eventually appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On January 22, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the congressional districts were unlawfully gerrymandered in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court ordered the General Assembly and the governor to adopt a remedied map, to be used for the 2018 congressional elections. Pennsylvania Republicans requested a

from the United States Supreme Court, to delay the drawing of new district boundaries; however, that request was denied on February 5, 2018. The governor and General Assembly failed to reach an agreement regarding the district boundaries, thus the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drew its own remedial map. On February 19, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new congressional map, to take effect for the May 15, 2018, primaries. The Court voted to implement the new map by a 4–3 vote. The map was designed with the assistance of Stanford University law professor

Nathaniel Persily Nathaniel Persily is the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he has taught since 2013. He is a scholar of constitutional law, election law, and the democratic process.compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

, and its map split fewer municipalities and counties than the prior Republican-drawn map. While the GOP-drawn map had favored Republican candidates, the court-drawn map is expected not to favor one party over the other. Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania requested that the Supreme Court block the implementation of the court-drawn map; however, on March 19, 2018, the United States Supreme Court denied their request. A Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed a parallel suit on the same day.

Historical district boundaries

File:Pagecgd112 pa.pdf, File:Pennsylvania Congressional Districts, 113th Congress.tif, File:Remedial Plan Statewide Image.png,

References

External links

Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennsylvania's Congressional Districts Politics of Pennsylvania Congressional delegations

Current districts and representatives

2012 redistricting and gerrymandering challenge

Historical district boundaries

See also

References

External links