After the 2000 census, the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, 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, Maryland to its south, West ...

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 apportionment ...

. After the 2010 census, the number of districts decreased again to 18. In the 2022 midterms, per the 2020 United States census, Pennsylvania lost one congressional seat, bringing the delegation's number to 17 districts.

Current districts and representatives

The congressional delegation from Pennsylvania consists of 17 members. In the current delegation, 7 representatives are Democrats and 10 are

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. The list below identifies the members of the United States House delegation from Pennsylvania, their service start dates, and current court-ordered district boundaries.

Historical elections summary

File:PA2010House.png, alt=2010 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2010 File:PA201420162012.png, alt=2012/14/16 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2012 File:PA201420162012.png, alt=2012/14/16 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2014 File:PA201420162012.png, alt=2012/14/16 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2016 File:PA20182020House.jpg, alt=2018/20 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2018 File:PA20182020House.jpg, alt=2018/20 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2020 File:PA2022House.png, alt=2022 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2022 File:PA2024House.png, alt=2024 Pennsylvania United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District, 2024

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 according to Democrats favored Republican candidates. Pennsylvania has voted majority Democrat in every presidential election since 1992 with the exception of Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election. 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 In constitutional law, 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 applic ...

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

stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

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 its 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, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...

, 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. 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 2018 election resulted in 9 Democrats and 9 Republicans in the delegation.

Historical district boundaries

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

References

External links