Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district was a district including the city of Pittsburgh and parts of surrounding suburbs. A variety of working class and majority black suburbs located to the east of the city were included, such as McKeesport and Wilkinsburg. Also a major part of the district was a number of middle class suburbs that have historic Democratic roots, such as Pleasant Hills and Penn Hills. The district became obsolete following the 2020 United States census. It was largely replaced by Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district.
| Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district | |
|---|---|
| Obsolete district | |
| Created | 1820 |
| Eliminated | 2020 |
| Years active | 1823–2023 |
The district covered much of the area that was the center of the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s.
History
Pre-2018 boundaries
In February 2018, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the district map violated the state constitution due to gerrymandering and redrew all of the state's congressional districts. The 18th and 14th districts swapped numbers and had their boundaries adjusted for the 2018 elections (after March's special election) and thereafter.[1][2]
Before the court-ordered redistricting in February 2018, the district was concentrated in the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh. It was predominantly white, although it contained a diverse range of suburbs. It was drawn in such a way that in some locations, neighborhoods and even streets were split between the 18th and the neighboring 12th and 14th districts. In parts of the eastern portion of the district, one side of the street was in the 12th while the other side was in the 18th. In the west, one side of the street was in the 14th while the other side was in the 18th.
Although there were 35,000 more[3] Democrats in the district than Republicans in 2018, the district had been trending increasingly Republican since the mid-1990s; most of the district's state legislators were Republicans. The district was home to many large coal mines and the energy industry was an important employer. The western part of the district contained some rural regions of Washington County, as well as the very wealthy suburbs in the northern part of that county, which tends to be more Republican than the part contained in the neighboring 9th District. The district also contained many of Allegheny County's southern suburbs of Pittsburgh, which ranged from traditionally wealthy areas such as Upper St. Clair to middle-class communities such as Bethel Park and working-class labor towns such as Elizabeth.
The district skewed older and had the second-oldest electorate in the state in 2017.[4]
The district wound along the eastern suburbs at the edge of Allegheny County, including most of the large suburban commercial center of Monroeville, and in western Westmoreland County. Central Westmoreland County, including the city of Greensburg, was also part of the district. It also contained the rural foothills of the county at the district's eastern end. Westmoreland County has become a major Republican stronghold.
Voter registration
| Party enrollment as of October 18, 2021[5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Total voters | Percentage | |||
| Democratic | 328,743 | 62.84% | |||
| Republican | 118,874 | 22.72% | |||
| Independent/other parties | 75,486 | 14.43% | |||
| Total | 523,103 | 100% | |||
Future
The district became obsolete following the 2020 United States census.[6] It was largely replaced by Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, while some suburbs of Pittsburgh, such as Wilkinsburg, were redrawn into the 17th district.[7]
List of members representing the district
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Recent election results
2012
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Murphy (incumbent) | 216,727 | 64.0 | |
| Democratic | Larry Maggi | 122,146 | 36.0 | |
| Total votes | 338,873 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2014
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Murphy (incumbent) | 166,076 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 166,076 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2016
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Murphy (incumbent) | 293,684 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 293,684 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2018 special election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Conor Lamb | 114,102 | 49.86% | +49.86% | |
| Republican | Rick Saccone | 113,347 | 49.53% | -50.47% | |
| Libertarian | Drew Gray Miller | 1,381 | 0.60% | +0.60% | |
| Total votes | 228,830 | 100.00% | |||
| Plurality | 755 | 0.33% | -99.67% | ||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
2018
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike Doyle (incumbent) | 231,472 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 231,472 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2020
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike Doyle (incumbent) | 266,084 | 69.3 | |
| Republican | Luke Negron | 118,163 | 30.7 | |
| Total votes | 384,247 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
Notes
- "Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down state's congressional districts". CBS News. 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. CBS News. January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- Cohn, Nate; Bloch, Matthew; Quealy, Kevin (February 19, 2018). "The New Pennsylvania House Districts Are In. We Review the Mapmakers' Choices". The Upshot. The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- "Home". www.dos.pa.gov.
- "Lamb, Saccone both hope for blue-collar support in special congressional election". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. December 22, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- Pennsylvania Department of State (October 18, 2021). "Voter Registration Statistics by Congressional District" (XLSX).
- Merica, Dan; Stark, Liz (April 26, 2021). "Census Bureau announces 331 million people in US, Texas will add two congressional seats". CNN. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- Rakich, Ryan Best, Aaron Bycoffe and Nathaniel (August 9, 2021). "What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State - Pennsylvania". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Statistics of Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 2012". Karen Haas, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. February 28, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
- "Pennsylvania 2014 General Election - November 4, 2014 Official Results". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 4, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- "Pennsylvania 2016 General Election - November 8, 2016 Official Results". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- Deppen, Colin (April 2, 2018). "Allegheny County's District 18 special election results are finally official". The Incline. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- "2018 General Election: Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- "2020 Presidential Election - Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
References
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- "Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present".