Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
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Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district includes all of
Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, and parts of Monroe County. It has been represented by Republican Ryan Mackenzie since 2025. From March 2003 through 2018, the district incorporated parts of the
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
suburbs, including most of Delaware County, along with portions of
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
, Montgomery, Berks, and Lancaster Counties. The district exhibited extreme non-congruity during that time as a result of
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. On January 22, 2018, the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...
ruled that the map violated the state constitution, and in February, it issued its own district boundaries for use in the 2018 elections and representation thereafter. Most of the population in the old 7th district became part of a new 5th district, encompassing all of Delaware County and parts of
South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...
; while most of the old 15th district became the new 7th district. In the 2020 redistricting cycle, Carbon County was added into the district, in exchange for the area around East Stroudsburg in Monroe County. Pat Meehan, who had represented the old 7th district since 2011, resigned on April 27, 2018, amid a sexual harassment case. Mary Gay Scanlon won the special election on November 6, 2018, to replace him for the remainder of his term, and she served for slightly less than two months as the last representative for the old 7th district before being transferred to the newly redrawn 5th district. Susan Wild won the general election in the newly redrawn 7th district, and she took office January 3, 2019. The district was identified as a presidential bellwether by ''
Sabato's Crystal Ball Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center f ...
'', having voted for the Electoral College winner in the past four presidential elections as of 2020.


Recent election results from statewide races


Geography

The 2003–2012 version of the district was located in southeastern Pennsylvania. It contained the western and northwestern suburbs of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. It consisted of the majority of Delaware County (except for the City of
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
and some of the eastern boroughs), a portion of
Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...
east of West Chester in the affluent Philadelphia Main Line area, and a portion of southern Montgomery County centered on Upper Merion Township. The 2013–2018 version of the district contained most of Delaware County outside of the City of Chester and the heavily African American townships and boroughs in the eastern portion of the county. It also contained parts of central Montgomery County, southern portions of Berks County, southern and central portions of Chester County, and a small portion of eastern Lancaster County. The District as it stood in October 2016 was named on NPR's '' On the Media'' as an egregious example of
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. The shape of the district was described as "
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
kicking
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
. The only point that is essentially contiguous there is Goofy's foot in Donald Duck's rear end. ... However these district lines are the building blocks of democracy, and when they get as perverted and twisted as this, it leads to deeply undemocratic outcomes." ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' listed it as one of the ten most gerrymandered districts in the country. On February 19, 2018, the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...
released a new congressional map after lawmakers had failed to agree on a map that would reduce gerrymandering. The map substantially redrew the District, relocating it to the
Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...
. The newly redrawn district includes all of Lehigh County and Northampton County as well as parts of Monroe County.


Composition

; Carbon County (23) : All 23 municipalities Lehigh County (25) : All 25 municipalities Monroe County (3) : Eldred Township, Polk Township, Ross Township (part; also
8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...
) Northampton County (38) : All 38 municipalities


List of members representing the district


1791–1793: one seat

District created in 1791. District redistricted in 1793 to the .


1795–1823: one seat

District restored in 1795.


1823–1833: two seats


1833–present: one seat


Historical district boundaries

File:PACongressionalDistrict7.png, 2003–2013 File:Pennsylvania US Congressional District 7 (since 2013).tif, 2013–2019 File:District_7.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 within the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, wi ...
* Pennsylvania's congressional districts


Notes


References

* *


External links


District mapCongressional redistricting in PennsylvaniaCongressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
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