Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
| Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Current Representative | Mark Critz (D–Johnstown) | |
| Distribution | 62.56% urban, 37.44% rural | |
| Population (2000) | 646,249 | |
| Median income | $30,612 | |
| Ethnicity | 95.3% White, 3.3% Black, 0.3% Asian, 0.6% Hispanic, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% other | |
| Cook PVI | R+1 | |
Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district is represented by Congressman Mark Critz (D) after a special election was held on May 18, 2010 following the death of Democrat John Murtha. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+1. The district is notable as the only congressional district in the nation that voted for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004 but went for Republican John McCain in 2008.
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[edit] Geography
Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, the 12th District consists of all of Greene County, and parts of Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. A thoroughly unionized district, the 12th has historically been among the most Democratic areas of the state. However, the Democrats in this area are not as liberal as their counterparts in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Most of them are somewhat conservative on social issues, particularly abortion and gun control.
The 12th includes all of Greene County, a highly rural region that still has a traditionally Democratic influence due to its labor leanings. In Washington county, the city of Washington, a large and Democratic edge suburb of Pittsburgh is a part of the 12th, as well as the eastern portion of the county. Most of the Monongahela Valley region, a very Democratic area that was once an important steel-making area, is also part of the 12th. However, more rural western Washington County and the suburban northern portion of the county (with towns like McDonald and Canonsburg) belongs to the 18th. The western portion of Fayette County, including the city of Uniontown, a labor Democratic stronghold is part of this district, while the rural mountainous eastern portion is a part of the 9th.
The 12th District continues eastward, including southeastern and northeastern parts of Westmoreland County, including the labor Democratic city of Latrobe, while leaving the suburban western part of the county (with towns such as Murrysville) and the generally left-leaning city of Greensburg in the 18th. The major population base of the district is located just to the east, taking in most of Somerset and Cambria counties. This area, the heart of a large coal-mining region, includes the district's largest city, Johnstown. The 12th also contains a part of Indiana County, mainly the college town of Indiana.
The 12th completes its wrap around the metro Pittsburgh region by ending in the northeastern corner of the city's suburbs, containing middle class regions such as Lower Burrell and the working class suburb of New Kensington. A portion of Armstrong County is also included in the district, including several industrial suburbs such as Freeport and Apollo.
[edit] Demographics
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[edit] History
After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state legislature radically altered the 12th in an effort to get more Republicans elected from traditionally heavily Democratic southwestern Pennsylvania. A large chunk of the old 20th District was incorporated into the 12th. In some parts of the western portion of the district, one side of the street is in the 12th while the other side of the street is in the 18th District (the reconfigured 20th). This led to criticism that the 12th was a gerrymander intended to pack as many of southwestern Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas as possible into just two districts—the 12th and the Pittsburgh-based 14th.
[edit] 2006 election
In the 2006 election, Murtha was re-elected with 61% of the vote. His Republican opponent, Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey, received 39%.
[edit] 2008 election
John Murtha won the 2008 election with 58% of the vote. Murtha was a United States Marine and the first Vietnam War veteran to serve in Congress. He defeated Lt. Col. William T. Russell, an army veteran.
[edit] 2010 special election
Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell scheduled a special election for May 18, 2010, following the death of Representative John Murtha. On March 8, 2010, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's Executive Committee nominated Mark Critz, Murtha's former district director.[1] On March 11, a convention of Republicans from the 12th district nominated businessman Tim Burns.[2] The Libertarian Party's candidate was Demo Agoris, who ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 48th district as a Libertarian in 2006.
Mark Critz won the election.
[edit] 2010 election
Mark Critz was re-elected in the regularly scheduled 2010 election; again beating Republican Tim Burns (this time with 51% of the vote against 49%).
[edit] List of representatives
| Representative | Party | Years | District home | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created in 1795 from Pennsylvania's At-large congressional district | ||||
| Albert Gallatin | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1795 - March 4, 1801 | Fayette County | Appointed United States Secretary of the Treasury in May, 1801 |
| William Hoge | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1803 | Washington | Redistricted to 10th District |
| District eliminated | 1803 | |||
| District restored | 1813 | |||
| Aaron Lyle | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1813 - March 4, 1817 | ||
| Thomas Patterson | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1817 - March 4, 1823 | Redistricted to 15th District | |
| John Brown | Jacksonian DR | March 4, 1823 - March 4, 1825 | Lewistown | Redistricted from 9th District |
| John Mitchell | Jacksonian | March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1829 | Bellefonte | Lost reelection |
| John Scott | Jacksonian | March 4, 1829 - March 4, 1831 | Alexandria | Lost reelection |
| Robert Allison | Anti-Masonic | March 4, 1831 - March 4, 1833 | Huntingdon | Not a candidate for renomination |
| George Chambers | Anti-Masonic | March 4, 1833 - March 4, 1837 | Chambersburg | |
| Daniel Sheffer | Democratic | March 4, 1837 - March 4, 1839 | York Springs | Lost reelection |
| James Cooper | Whig | March 4, 1839 - March 4, 1843 | Gettysburg | |
| Almon H. Read | Democratic | March 4, 1843 - June 3, 1844 | Montrose | Redistricted from 17th District Died |
| Vacant | June 3, 1844 - December 2, 1844 | |||
| George Fuller | Democratic | December 2, 1844 - March 4, 1845 | Montrose | |
| David Wilmot | Democratic | March 4, 1845 - March 4, 1851 | Towanda | Not a candidate for renomination |
| Galusha A. Grow | Democratic | March 4, 1851 - March 4, 1853 | Glenwood | Redistricted to the 14th District |
| Hendrick B. Wright | Democratic | March 4, 1853 - March 4, 1855 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost reelection |
| Henry M. Fuller | Opposition | March 4, 1855 - March 4, 1857 | Wilkes-Barre | Not a candidate for renomination |
| John G. Montgomery | Democratic | March 4, 1857 - April 24, 1857 | Danville | Died |
| Vacant | April 24, 1857 – December 7, 1857 | |||
| Paul Leidy | Democratic | December 7, 1857 - March 4, 1859 | ||
| George W. Scranton | Republican | March 4, 1859 - March 24, 1861 | Died | |
| Vacant | March 24, 1861 – July 4, 1861 | |||
| Hendrick B. Wright | Democratic | July 4, 1861 - March 4, 1863 | ||
| Charles Denison | Democratic | March 4, 1863- June 27, 1867 | Died | |
| Vacant | June 27, 1867 - November 21, 1867 | |||
| George W. Woodward | Democratic | November 21, 1867 - March 4, 1871 | Not a candidate for renomination | |
| Lazarus D. Shoemaker | Republican | March 4, 1871 - March 4, 1875 | Not a candidate for renomination | |
| Winthrop W. Ketcham | Republican | March 4, 1875 – July 19, 1876 | Resigned after being appointed judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania | |
| Vacant | July 19, 1876 - November 7, 1876 | |||
| William H. Stanton | Democratic | November 7, 1876 - March 4, 1877 | Not a candidate for reelection | |
| Hendrick B. Wright | Democratic | March 4, 1877 - March 4, 1879 | Wilkes-Barre | |
| Greenback | March 4, 1879 - March 4, 1881 | Lost reelection | ||
| Joseph A. Scranton | Republican | March 4, 1881 - March 4, 1883 | Scranton | Lost rerelection |
| Daniel W. Connolly | Democratic | March 4, 1883 - March 4, 1885 | Scranton | Lost rerelection |
| Joseph A. Scranton | Republican | March 4, 1885 - March 4, 1887 | Scranton | Lost rerelection |
| John Lynch | Democratic | March 4, 1887 - March 4, 1889 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost rerelection |
| Edwin S. Osborne | Republican | March 4, 1889 - March 4, 1891 | Wilkes-Barre | Redistricted from At-large District Not a candidate for renomination |
| George W. Shonk | Republican | March 4, 1891 - March 4, 1893 | Wilkes-Barre | Declined to be a candidate for renomination |
| William H. Hines | Democratic | March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1895 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost rerelection |
| John Leisenring | Republican | March 4, 1895 - March 4, 1897 | Upper Lehigh | Declined to be a candidate for reelection |
| Morgan B. Williams | Republican | March 4, 1897 - March 4, 1899 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost rerelection |
| Stanley W. Davenport | Democratic | March 4, 1899 - March 4, 1901 | Plymouth | Lost renomination |
| Henry W. Palmer | Republican | March 4, 1901 - March 4, 1903 | Wilkes-Barre | Redistricted to 11th District |
| George R. Patterson | Republican | March 4, 1903 - March 21, 1906 | Ashland | Died |
| Vacant | January 21, 1906 - November 6, 1906 | |||
| Charles N. Brumm | Republican | November 6, 1906 - January 4, 1909 | Minersville | Resigned when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania |
| Vacant | January 4, 1909 - March 4, 1909 | |||
| Alfred B. Garner | Republican | March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1911 | Ashland | |
| Robert E. Lee | Democratic | March 4, 1911 - March 4, 1915 | Pottsville | Lost re-election |
| Robert D. Heaton | Republican | March 4, 1915 - March 4, 1919 | Pottsville | Not a candidate for re-election |
| John Reber | Republican | March 4, 1919 - March 4, 1923 | Pottsville | Not a candidate for re-election |
| John J. Casey | Democratic | March 4, 1923 - March 4, 1925 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost re-election |
| Edmund N. Carpenter | Republican | March 4, 1925 - March 4, 1927 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost re-election |
| John J. Casey | Democratic | March 4, 1927 - May 5, 1929 | Wilkes-Barre | Died |
| Vacant | May 5, 1929 - June 4, 1929 | |||
| C. Murray Turpin | Republican | June 4, 1929 - January 3, 1937 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost re-election |
| J. Harold Flannery | Democratic | January 3, 1937 - January 3, 1942 | Pittston | Resigned to become judge of the common pleas court of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania |
| Vacant | January 3, 1942 - May 19, 1942 | |||
| Thomas B. Miller | Republican | May 19, 1942 - January 3, 1945 | Wilkes-Barre | Lost re-election |
| Ivor D. Fenton | Republican | January 3, 1945 - January 3, 1963 | Mahonoy City | Redistricted from 13th District Lost re-election |
| J. Irving Whalley | Republican | January 3, 1963 - January 3, 1973 | Pittsburgh | Redistricted from 18th District Not a candidate for re-election |
| John P. Saylor | Republican | January 3, 1973 - October 28, 1973 | Johnstown | Redistricted from 22nd District Died |
| Vacant | October 28, 1973 - February 5, 1974 | |||
| John Murtha | Democratic | February 5, 1974 - February 8, 2010 | Johnstown | Died |
| Vacant | February 8, 2010 - May 18, 2010 | |||
| Mark Critz | Democratic | May 18, 2010 – Present | Johnstown | Incumbent |
[edit] 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
- ^ Becker, Bernie (March 8, 2010). "Dems Choose Nominee for Murtha Seat". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/dems-choose-nominee-for-murtha-seat/. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- ^ Faher, Mike (March 12, 2010). "GOP chooses Burns for special election in 12th". The Tribune-Democratic. http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_071000335.html. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
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