Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district is a district in the state 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, Ma ...
. It includes all of
Chester County, the city of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, and Reading's southeastern suburbs in
Berks County. The district is represented by
Democrat Chrissy Houlahan, who has served in Congress since 2019. As currently drawn, the district is among the wealthiest in Pennsylvania. The
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
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 Ju ...
redrew the district in February 2018 after ruling the previous map unconstitutional.
Elections
Jim Gerlach
James W. Gerlach (born February 25, 1955) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2003 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Gerlach retired from Congress after completing his sixth term.
Early life, education and career ...
served as the district's Representative from 2003 to 2014. In 2004 and 2006, Gerlach won re-election against fellow attorney and now
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to:
Australia
* The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania
United Kingdom
* The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery
United States
* Montgomery County, Alabama
* Mon ...
Court of Common Pleas Judge Lois Murphy. In 2008, he successfully ran for re-election against businessman and veteran Bob Roggio. In the 2010 and 2012 elections, Gerlach defeated physician and
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
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veteran
Manan Trivedi
Manan Trivedi (born May 22, 1974) is an American physician, politician, Iraq War veteran and perennial candidate. He was the Democratic nominee for in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 elections, losing to his Republican opponents in each election.
E ...
, the Democratic nominee.
In January 2014, Gerlach announced that he would not stand for reelection to the 114th Congress. In the race to succeed Gerlach, Chester County Commissioner
Ryan Costello won the Republican nomination and physician and Iraq war veteran Manan Trivedi secured the Democratic party's nomination.
In February 2018, following the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
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 Ju ...
's ordered redrawing of congressional districts, Costello announced he would not stand for reelection and retire at the end of the 115th Congress, leaving businessman Greg McCauley as the sole Republican candidate while the Democrats nominated
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...
veteran
Chrissy Houlahan. Houlahan defeated McCauley in the general election.
Geography
2003 to 2012
Prior to the court-ordered redistricting, the 6th district's incarnation dated back to 2002. Its strange shape brought charges of
gerrymandering
In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...
by
Democrats who argued it "looms like a dragon descending on Philadelphia from the west, splitting up towns and communities throughout
Montgomery and
Berks Counties." The combination of very affluent suburban areas of Philadelphia and sparsely populated rural areas was possibly designed to capture
Republican voters, but changes in voting patterns in southeastern
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, Ma ...
has made the district much more competitive. The district had a
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...
score of R+1 after the 2012 redistricting. It was rated D+4 before then.
The district included parts of
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to:
Australia
* The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania
United Kingdom
* The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery
United States
* Montgomery County, Alabama
* Mon ...
,
Chester County,
Berks County and
Lehigh County
Lehigh may refer to:
Places United States
*Lehigh, Iowa
*Lehigh, Kansas
*Lehigh, Oklahoma
*Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia
*Lehigh, Wisconsin
* Lehigh Acres, Florida
* Lehigh Township (disambiguation)
* Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Pe ...
. The largest cities in the district were
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and
Norristown.
2013 to 2018
The redistricting of 2011/2012 changed it to include parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
counties. The following municipalities constituted the sixth district:
Berks County
Chester County
Lebanon County
Montgomery County
2019
The court-ordered map made the 6th a more compact district in Berks and Chester counties.
List of members representing the district
1791–1793: One seat
District created in 1791 from the .
District redistricted in 1793 to the .
1795–1823: One seat, then two
District created in 1795.
1823 – present: One seat
Recent election results
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
Historical district boundaries
File:United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania District 6 map.png, 2003–2013
File:Pennsylvania US Congressional District 6 (since 2013).tif, 2013–2019
File:Pennsylvania Congressional District 6.png, 2019–2023
See also
*
List of United States congressional districts
Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, with ...
*
Pennsylvania's congressional districts
References
*
*
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
External links
Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania
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06
Constituencies established in 1791
1791 establishments in Pennsylvania
Constituencies disestablished in 1793
1793 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
Constituencies established in 1795
1795 establishments in Pennsylvania