Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district

Pennsylvania's fifth congressional district encompasses an exclave of Chester County, all of Delaware County, a small portion of southern Montgomery County and a section of southern Philadelphia. Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon represents the district.

Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district
Boundaries since January 3, 2019; below statistics, except PVI, apply to old boundaries
Representative	Mary Gay Scanlon D–Swarthmore
Distribution	50.74% urban[1] 49.26% rural
Population (2000)	646,397
Median income	33,254
Ethnicity	96.5% white 1.3% black 1.1% Asian 0.8% Hispanic 0.2% Native American 0.0% other
Cook PVI	D+13[2]

Prior to 2018, the fifth district was located in north central Pennsylvania and was the largest in area, and least densely populated, of all of Pennsylvania's congressional districts. It was Republican-leaning and represented by Glenn Thompson (R). However, in February 2018, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania redrew this district after ruling the previous congressional district map unconstitutional due to partisan gerrymandering, assigning its number to a more left-leaning district in southeastern Pennsylvania for the 2018 elections and representation thereafter–essentially, a successor to the old seventh district. Most of Thompson's territory became a new, heavily Republican 15th District.[3] He was re-elected there.

Geography

Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district is located in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania and includes all or part of the following four counties:[4]

• Chester
• Delaware
• Montgomery
• Philadelphia

Cities in this district include:

• Philadelphia
• Chester

The entirety of Delaware County and the majority of both the Main Line Suburbs and South Philadelphia are part of this district.

Characteristics

The 5th district is mostly suburban and some urban areas. The Chester County exclave is rural. The entirety of Delaware County is within the district and is a suburban area. The surrounding northern Montgomery District is also mostly suburban, while the South Philadelphia area in the district is mostly urban. The district is around 700,000 citizens. Consisting of 89% white, 5% Black, 4% Asian, and 3% Hispanic. [5]

Economy

The 5th district is largely reliant on industries in finance, education, public works, and private sector jobs.

List of members representing the district

District created in 1791 from the at-large district.

1791–1793: One seat

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
John W. Kittera	Pro-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793	2nd	Elected in 1791. Redistricted to the at-large district.

District redistricted in 1793 to the at-large district.

1795–1813: One seat

District restored in 1795.

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
Daniel Hiester	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – July 1, 1796	4th	Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 1794. Resigned.
Vacant		July 1, 1796 – December 8, 1796
George Ege	Federalist	December 8, 1796 – March 3, 1797		Elected October 10, 1797 to finish Hiester's term. Also elected the next day to the next term. Resigned.
		March 4, 1797 – October ??, 1797	5th
Vacant		October ??, 1797 – December 1, 1797
Joseph Hiester	Democratic-Republican	December 1, 1797 – March 3, 1799		Elected to finish Ege's term. Re-elected in 1798. Re-elected in 1800. Redistricted to the 3rd district.
		March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1803	6th 7th
Andrew Gregg	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1807	8th 9th	Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1802. Re-elected in 1804. Lost re-election.
Daniel Montgomery Jr.	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1809	10th	Elected in 1806. Retired.
George Smith	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1813	11th 12th	Re-elected in 1808. Re-elected in 1810. Redistricted to the 10th district and lost re-election.

1813–1823: Two seats

Years	Cong ress		Seat A				Seat B
			Representative	Party	Electoral history		Representative	Party	Electoral history
March 4, 1813 – April 8, 1813	13th		William Crawford	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Lost re-election.		Robert Whitehill	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1812. Died.
April 8, 1813 – May 11, 1813							Vacant
May 11, 1813 – March 3, 1815							John Rea	Democratic-Republican	Elected to finish Whitehill's term. Retired.
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817	14th						William Maclay	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Retired.
March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819	15th		Andrew Boden	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1816. Re-elected in 1818. Retired.
March 4, 1819 – May 15, 1820	16th						David Fullerton	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1818. Resigned.
May 15, 1820 – November 13, 1820							Vacant
November 13, 1820 – March 3, 1821							Thomas Grubb McCullough	Federalist	Elected October 10, 1820 to finish Fullerton's term and seated November 13, 1820. Did not run in the same day's election to the next term.
March 4, 1821 – December 12, 1821	17th		Vacant		Representative-elect James Duncan resigned before assembly of Congress.		James McSherry	Federalist	Elected in 1820. Redistricted to the 11th district and lost re-election.
December 12, 1821 – March 3, 1823			John Findlay	Democratic-Republican	Elected October 9, 1821 to finish Duncan's term and seated December 12, 1821. Redistricted to the 11th district.

1823–Present: One seat

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
Philip Swenk Markley	Jackson Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th	Elected in 1822. Re-elected in 1824. Lost re-election.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
John Benton Sterigere	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831	20th 21st	Elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Retired.
Joel Keith Mann	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1835	22nd 23rd	Elected in 1830. Re-elected in 1832. Retired.
Jacob Fry Jr.	Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th 25th	Elected in 1834. Re-elected in 1836. Retired.
	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
Joseph Fornance	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	26th 27th	Elected in 1838. [data unknown/missing]
Jacob Senewell Yost	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847	28th 29th	[data unknown/missing]
John Freedley	Whig	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1851	30th 31st	[data unknown/missing]
John McNair	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855	32nd 33rd	[data unknown/missing]
John Cadwalader	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	[data unknown/missing]
Owen Jones	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	35th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
John Wood	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
William M. Davis	Republican	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863	37th	[data unknown/missing]
Martin Russell Thayer	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867	38th 39th	Declined to be a candidate for renomination
Caleb Newbold Taylor	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th	[data unknown/missing]
John Roberts Reading	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – April 13, 1870	41st	Election successfully contested by Caleb N. Taylor
Caleb Newbold Taylor	Republican	April 13, 1870 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing]
Alfred C. Harmer	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	42nd 43rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
John Robbins	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	Declined to be a candidate for re-election
Alfred C. Harmer	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 6, 1900	45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		March 6, 1900 – November 6, 1900
Edward de Veaux Morrell	Republican	November 6, 1900 – March 3, 1907	56th 57th 58th 59th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
William Walker Foulkrod	Republican	March 4, 1907 – November 13, 1910	60th 61st	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		November 13, 1910 – March 3, 1911
Michael Donohoe	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1915	62nd 63rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Peter E. Costello	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1921	64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
James J. Connolly	Republican	March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1935	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Frank J. G. Dorsey	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939	74th 75th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Fred C. Gartner	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	76th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Francis R. Smith	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
C. Frederick Pracht	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	78th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
William J. Green Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
George W. Sarbacher Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	80th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
William J. Green Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – December 21, 1963	81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		December 21, 1963 – April 28, 1964
William J. Green III	Democratic	April 28, 1964 – January 3, 1973	88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 3rd district.
John H. Ware III	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	Redistricted from the 9th district. Retired.
Richard T. Schulze	Republican	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993	94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
William F. Clinger Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	103rd 104th	Redistricted from the 23rd district. Retired.
John E. Peterson	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2009	105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Glenn Thompson	Republican	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2019	111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 15th district.
Mary Gay Scanlon	Democratic	January 3, 2019 – present	116th	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 2018.

Recent election results

2000 election[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John E. Peterson	147,570	82.7%
	Libertarian	Thomas A. Martin	17,020	9.5%
	Green	William M. Belitskus	13,875	7.8%
Total votes			178,465	100%
	Republican hold

2002 election[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John E. Peterson	124,942	87.4%
	Libertarian	Thomas A. Martin	18,078	12.6%
Total votes			143,020	100%
	Republican hold

2004 election[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John E. Peterson	192,852	88.0%
	Libertarian	Thomas A. Martin	26,239	12.0%
Total votes			219,091	100%
	Republican hold

2006 election[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John E. Peterson	115,126	60.1%
	Democratic	Donald L. Hilliard	76,456	39.9%
Total votes			191,582	100%
	Republican hold

2008 election[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Glenn Thompson	155,513	56.7%
	Democratic	Mark B. McCracken	112,509	41.0%
	Libertarian	James Fryman	6,155	2.2%
Total votes			274,177	99.9%
	Republican hold

2010 election[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Glenn Thompson	125,740	68.6%
	Democratic	Michael Pipe	51,848	28.3%
	Libertarian	Vernon L. Etzel	5,654	3.1%
Total votes			182,972	100%
	Republican hold

2012 election[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Glenn Thompson	177,704	62.9%
	Democratic	Charles Dumas	104,710	37.1%
Total votes			282,414	100%
	Republican hold

2014 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Glenn Thompson (Incumbent)	115,018	63.60%
	Democratic	Kerith Strano Taylor	65,839	36.40%
Total votes			180,857	100%
	Republican hold

2016 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Glenn Thompson (Incumbent)	206,761	67.16%
	Democratic	Kerith Strano Taylor	101,082	32.84%
Total votes			307,843	100%
	Republican hold

2018 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Gay Scanlon	198,639	65.2%
	Republican	Pearl Kim	106,075	34.8%
Total votes			304,714	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Historical district boundaries

• 
  2003–2013
• 
  2013–2019

See also

• List of United States congressional districts
• Pennsylvania's congressional districts

References

1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov.
2. "New Pennsylvania Map Is a Major Boost for Democrats". The Cook Political Report. February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
3. 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.
4. . pacourts.us. Retrieved on 2020-06-9.
5. Ballotpedia
6. "2000 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 7, 2000. Archived from the original on January 30, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
7. "2002 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 5, 2002. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
8. "2004 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 2, 2004. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
9. "2006 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 7, 2006. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
10. "2008 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
11. "2010 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 2, 2010. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
12. "2012 General Election". Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. November 6, 2012. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.

• 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

External links

• District map
• Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania