2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania

2006 Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district election

Nominee Phil English Steven Porter Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 108,525 85,110 Percentage 53.6% 42.1%

County results English:      50-60%      60-70% Porter:      40-50%

U.S. Representative before election Phil English Republican Elected U.S. Representative Phil English Republican

Incumbent Representative Phil English was re-elected with 53.6% of the vote.

2006 Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district election

Nominee Jason Altmire Melissa Hart Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 131,847 122,049 Percentage 51.9% 48.1%

County results Altmire:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Hart:      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. Representative before election Melissa Hart Republican Elected U.S. Representative Jason Altmire Democratic

Incumbent U.S. Representative Melissa Hart was defeated by healthcare lobbyist Jason Altmire, taking 48.1% of the vote to Altmire's 51.9%.

2006 Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district election

Nominee John E. Peterson Donald L. Hilliard Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 115,126 76,456 Percentage 60.1% 39.9%

County results Peterson:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

U.S. Representative before election John E. Peterson Republican Elected U.S. Representative John E. Peterson Republican

Incumbent Representative John E. Peterson was re-elected with 60.1% of the vote.

In the Pennsylvania 6th congressional district election, incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach defeated Democratic opponent Lois Murphy by a 50.7%–49.3% margin to secure a third term. This was a rematch of the 2004 election, when Gerlach defeated Murphy by a similarly close margin.[2] In the primary election, Gerlach was unopposed and Lois Murphy defeated developer Mike Leibowitz.[3]

The race was one of the most competitive in the nation, with CQPolitics.comrating the race as highly competitive with "No Clear Favorite." The Cook Political Report rated the race "Republican Toss Up"[4] and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball rated this as one of the top fifty most competitive House races in the nation, and was the first one he predicted a turnover in.[5] The candidates participated in two debates in October. The first, sponsored by the AARP focused on Social Security, healthcare, Iraq, and taxes.[6][7][8] The second debate, airing on WPVI, focused on Iraq.[9] Murphy outspent Gerlach by a margin of $4,097,663 to $3,492,402.[10]

In the Pennsylvania 7th congressional district election, long-time incumbent Republican Curt Weldon was defeated by retired Navy 3-star admiral Joe Sestak.

Prior to the primary election, Iraq war veteran Bryan Lentz agreed to drop his bid for the seat held by Weldon, instead running for a Pennsylvania state legislature seat, a move brokered by Governor Ed Rendell. Lentz had raised about $125,000 for his congressional campaign. Haverford Democrat Paul Scoles, who ran poorly funded race against Weldon in 2004, also backed out in early February, throwing his support behind Sestak.[11]

Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district, covering the suburbs west of Philadelphia, was one of the districts where John Kerry outpolled Bush in the 2004 election, which nonetheless elected a Republican to the House. As such, it became the target of Democratic strategists; in 2006 the Democrats fielded a much stronger and vastly better-funded challenger.[12] On October 13, the media reported that Weldon and his daughter were being investigated by the FBI[13][14] for their involvement with two Russian energy companies and a Serbian company connected with Slobodan Milosevic. The investigation focuses on the lobbying firm Solutions North America owned and run by daughter Karen Weldon and local Republican operative Charlie Sexton, which was hired for $1 million, and whether Weldon was involved in obtaining the contracts or was lobbied by his daughter's firm. Three days later, FBI agents raided the home of Weldon's daughter, Karen, as well as five other locations of Weldon associates in Pennsylvania and Florida as part of the investigation.[15][16] On October 17, 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Weldon "acknowledged yesterday that he was under investigation."[17]

On October 13, 2006, CQPolitics changed their rating on the race, from "Leans Republican" to the highly competitive "No Clear Favorite."[18] This was the second time CQPolitics changed its rating in the match-up; in July, it reclassified the race from "Republican Favored" to the more competitive "Leans Republican." They subsequently noted, however, that this change was made the day before the media reported that the FBI was investigating Weldon and his daughter. Shortly after the raid, CQPolitics.com changed their rating on this race for a third time, this time from "No Clear Favorite" to "Leans Democratic".[19] On October 6, 2006, the non-partisan Cook Political Report re-rated the race from "Lean Republican" to the more competitive "Toss Up."[4] Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, in late June, rated as one of the top thirty most competitive House races in the nation. Sabato has said that "Weldon has deep roots in this district, but his persistence on the issue of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has struck more than several observers as unusual."[20]

2006 Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district election

Nominee Bill Shuster Tony Barr Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 121,069 79,610 Percentage 60.3% 39.7%

County results Shuster:      50-60%      60-70% Barr:      50-60%

U.S. Representative before election Bill Shuster Republican Elected U.S. Representative Bill Shuster Republican

Incumbent Representative Bill Shuster was re-elected with 60.3% of the vote.

2006 Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district election

Nominee Chris Carney Don Sherwood Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 110,115 97,862 Percentage 52.9% 47.1%

County results Carney:      50-60%      60-70% Sherwood:      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. Representative before election Don Sherwood Republican Elected U.S. Representative Chris Carney Democratic

The 2006 Pennsylvania 10th congressional district election was held on November :7 to elect a representative from the Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district. Republican four-term incumbent Don Sherwood was defeated by Democrat Chris Carney, a former Defense Department consultant and Navy lieutenant commander.

CQPolitics noted that "[a]t the outset of the 2006 midterm campaign cycle, it would have been difficult to identify a more politically 'safe' member than Pennsylvania Rep. Don Sherwood. A four-term Republican from the strongly conservative 10th District in northeastern Pennsylvania, Sherwood had run unchallenged by Democrats in 2002 and 2004."[23] But, he "enters the general election campaign in a weakened position mostly because of his extramarital relationship with a young woman, to which he publicly admitted last year. Sherwood, though, adamantly denied the woman's charges that he also physically abused her. A lawsuit brought by the woman against Sherwood was later settled."[24]

On May 15, 2006, Sherwood survived a "surprisingly strong challenge" in the Republican primary from Kathy Scott, a political newcomer.[25] Sherwood received 56% of the vote. CQPolitics reported that his "mediocre showing" could be attributed to the admitted affair.[26] Scott did not file a report with the FEC, which indicates that she spent less than $5,000 in her campaign.[27] His small margin of victory came despite the fact that, prior to the primary, Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum endorsed Sherwood and recorded an automated telephone call on Sherwood's behalf,[27] as did President George W. Bush.[28]

Sherwood's continuing problems resulting from the extramarital affair and Carney's nationally famous ads about it (in which actual residents of the district accuse Sherwood of having "no family values"), as well as polls that showed him 7 to 9 points behind, compelled Sherwood to respond with a television ad in which he directly apologized to voters for the affair, denied the allegations of physical abuse, and promised to continue what he said was his effective representation of the district if the voters were to forgive and re-elect him. However, the initial 2005 news about Sherwood admitting to an affair and being accused of choking the woman as well as the well-recognized Carney ads, which were described by the Associated Press as "hard-hitting", stuck with Sherwood's name throughout the campaign. Fallout for Sherwood continued, including charges that he voted against an increase in the minimum wage while hiking his own congressional income, a claim which the Congressman denounced as "bullshit", and for voting for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which Carney said "sent Pennsylvanian jobs overseas." Sherwood fought back by labeling Carney a "liar" for the minimum wage charges and subsequently accused Carney of being a "liberal" for supposedly supporting tax increases. Carney shot back, accusing Sherwood of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy, while depriving the middle-class. Carol Sherwood, the Congressman's wife, wrote a letter to registered Republicans in the 10th District in which she lambasted Carney as someone who "gets some pleasure out of hurting our family" and stated that "I am certainly not condoning the mistake Don made, but I am not going to dwell on either." Simultaneously, President Bush made a visit to the area in October to Keystone College in La Plume Township, Pennsylvania to endorse Sherwood's run, a move which many believe might have hurt Sherwood when given Bush's declining popularity both nationwide and in the district. Bush supported Sherwood as "the right man to represent this district", to which the President drew uncertain applause from the audience, which included several empty tables. Coincidentally, Bush had deemed the week that he flew to Pennsylvania to help Sherwood as "National Character Counts Week", which propelled Carney to blast Bush as a hypocrite, stating he could not comprehend how President Bush could both endorse moral values and campaign for the affair-laden Sherwood in the same week. Simultaneously, Sherwood's campaign took a boost from a local newspaper, Times Leader, which ran a front-page headline in late October in which it accused Carney of "misrepresenting" quotes that were included in a Times Leader editorial page about Sherwood's extramarital affair. Meanwhile, Carney took pages from the Republican playbook by using the same tactics the GOP uses against Democrats to attack Sherwood, accusing the Congressman of having a "pre-9/11 mentality" on port security and of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants, referring to President Bush's guest worker program for illegal immigration. Despite endorsements from Vice President Cheney, President Bush, and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, Sherwood's campaign was surprisingly beaten in the financial spending wars by the Carney campaign. In the closing days of the campaign, last-minute news about new developments in a 2005 $500,000 deal with Sherwood's former mistress and accuser helped boost Carney, who had consistently played the trump card of "honor", "integrity", and "family values" in his campaign. Many voters also resonated with Carney's vague yet inspiring vow "to make Pennsylvania proud", a slogan that became very familiar to the 10th District, as well as his impressive record as a senior terrorism advisor in the Pentagon and his Navy service.[23]

2006 Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district election

Nominee Paul Kanjorski Joseph F. Leonardi Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 134,340 51,033 Percentage 72.5% 27.5%

County results Kanjorski:      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

U.S. Representative before election Paul Kanjorski Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Paul Kanjorski Democratic

Incumbent U.S. Representative Paul Kanjorski was re-elected with 72.5% of the vote.

2006 Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district election

Nominee John P. Murtha Diana Irey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 123,472 79,612 Percentage 60.8% 39.2%

County Results Murtha:      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. Representative before election John P. Murtha Democratic Elected U.S. Representative John P. Murtha Democratic

Incumbent U.S. Representative John P. Murtha was re-elected with 60.8% of the vote.

2006 Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district election

Nominee Tim Holden Matthew W. Wertz Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 137,253 75,455 Percentage 64.5% 33.5%

County Results Holden:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Wertz:      50-60%

U.S. Representative before election Tim Holden Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Tim Holden Democratic

Incumbent Representative Tim Holden was re-elected with 64.5% of the vote.

2006 Pennsylvania's 19th congressional district election

Nominee Todd Platts Philip J. Avillo, Jr. Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 142,512 74,625 Percentage 64.0% 33.5%

County Results Platts:      60-70%

U.S. Representative before election Todd Platts Republican Elected U.S. Representative Todd Platts Republican

Incumbent Representative Todd Platts was re-elected with 64.0% of the vote.