Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
Current Representative		Charlie Dent (R–Allentown)
Distribution	87.30% urban, 12.70% rural
Population (2000)	646,300
Median income	$45,330
Ethnicity	89.5% White, 3.1% Black, 1.7% Asian, 7.9% Hispanic, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	D+2

Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District is located in eastern Pennsylvania, comprising all of Northampton County, most of Lehigh County, and small parts of Berks and Montgomery Counties. The district includes the Lehigh Valley, Indian Valley and Upper Perkiomen Valley regions.

Despite a slight Democratic tilt due to the presence of fairly large cities such as Allentown and Bethlehem, the district has elected Republicans recently. From 1999-2005, Pat Toomey represented the district. Since 2005, fellow Republican Charles Dent has represented the district. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D +2.

Politically important district

The District consists principally of Lehigh County and Northampton County. It is considered politically important nationally, since it is usually heavily contested, with neither Republicans nor Democrats having been able to win the district consistently. Since at least the Second World War, the District's voters have chosen the presidential candidate that goes on to win Pennsylvania (and until 2000, Pennsylvania chose the eventual national winner). In the 2004 election, both President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, visited the district with regularity in an effort to win its swing voters. The result in the district was 148,679 votes for Kerry over 148,576 votes for Bush, a 103-vote margin of victory.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Note
District created in 1813
Vacant		March 4, 1813 – May 14, 1813
Thomas Wilson	Democratic-Republican	May 14, 1813 – March 3, 1817	Erie	installed due to resignation of Abner Lacock from redistricted 11th district before commencement of Congress
Robert Moore	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821	Beaver	Not a candidate for renomination
Patrick Farrelly	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823	Meadville	Redistricted to the 18th district
Thomas Patterson	Jacksonian DR	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825		Redistricted from the 12th district unsuccessful candidate for renomination
Joseph Lawrence	Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829		Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
William McCreery	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831		Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Thomas M. T. McKennan	Anti-Masonic	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833		Redistricted to the 21st district
Andrew Beaumont	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	Wilkes-Barre	Not a candidate for renomination
David Petrikin	Democrat	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
Benjamin A. Bidlack	Democrat	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	Milford	Redistricted to the 11th district
Henry Nes	Independent Democrat	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	York
Moses McClean	Democrat	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	Gettysburg
Henry Nes	Whig	March 3, 1847 – September 10, 1850	York	Died
Vacant		September 10, 1850 – December 2, 1850
Joel B. Danner	Democrat	December 2, 1850 – March 3, 1851	Gettysburg
William H. Kurtz	Democrat	March 3, 1851 – March 3, 1853	York	Redistricted to the 25th district
James Gamble	Democrat	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Jersey Shore	Redistricted from the 13th district
John J. Pearce	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Lock Haven	Declined to be a candidate for reelection
Allison White	Democrat	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	Lock Haven	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
James T. Hale	Republican	March 4, 1859 - March 3, 1863	Bellefonte	Redistricted to the 18th district
Joseph Bailey	Democrat	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865		Redistricted from the 16th district
Adam J. Glossbrenner	Democrat	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869	York	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Richard J. Haldeman	Democrat	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873		Not a candidate for renomination
John A. Magee	Democrat	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875		Unsuccessful candidate for renomination
Joseph Powell	Democrat	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	Towanda	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Edward Overton, Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1877 - March 3, 1881	Towanda	Unsuccessful candidate for renomination
Cornelius C. Jadwin	Republican	March 4, 1881 - March 3, 1883	Honesdale	Unsuccessful Independent candidate for reelection
George A. Post	Democrat	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	Montrose
Frank C. Bunnell	Republican	March 4, 1885 - March 3, 1889	Tunkhannock	Not a candidate for renomination
Myron B. Wright	Republican	March 4, 1889 - November 13, 1894	Susquehanna	Died
Vacant		November 13, 1894 – February 23, 1895
Edwin J. Jorden	Republican	February 23, 1895 - March 3, 1895	Tunkhannock	Not a candidate for renomination
Vacant		March 3, 1895 – November 5, 1895
James H. Codding	Republican	November 5, 1895 – March 3, 1899	Towanda	installed after deceased Myron B. Wright was re-elected to term and subsequently declared vacant, not a candidate for reelection
Charles F. Wright	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1903	Susquehanna	Not a candidate for renomination
Elias Deemer	Republican	March 3, 1903 – March 3, 1907	Williamsport	Redistricted from the 16th district, unsuccessful candidate for reelection
William B. Wilson	Democrat	March 3, 1907 – March 3, 1913	Blossburg	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Edgar R. Kiess	Republican	March 3, 1913 – March 3, 1923	Williamsport	Redistricted to the 16th district
Louis T. McFadden	Republican	March 3, 1923 – January 3, 1935		Redistricted from the 14th district, unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Charles E. Dietrich	Democrat	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937	Tunkhannock	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Albert G. Rutherford	Republican	January 3, 1937 – August 10, 1941	Honesdale	Died
Vacant		August 10, 1941 – November 4, 1941
Wilson D. Gillette	Republican	November 4, 1941 – January 3, 1945	Towanda	Redistricted to the 14th district
Robert F. Rich	Republican	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1951	Jersey Shore	Not a candidate for renomination
Alvin Bush	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953		Redistricted to the 17th district
Francis E. Walter	Democrat	January 3, 1953 – May 31, 1963	Easton	Redistricted from the 21st district, died
Vacant		May 31, 1963 – July 30, 1963
Fred B. Rooney	Democrat	July 30, 1963 – January 3, 1979	Bethlehem	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Donald L. Ritter	Republican	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993	Bethlehem	Unsuccessful candidate for reelection
Paul F. McHale, Jr.	Democrat	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999	Bethlehem	He was not a candidate for reelection
Pat Toomey	Republican	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005	Bethlehem	Did not seek re-election as a Congressman, Unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate; elected to the Senate 6 years later
Charlie Dent	Republican	January 3, 2005 - Present	Allentown	Incumbent

Recent Elections

Year	Election		Nominee	Party	Votes	%		Nominee	Party	Votes	%
2000	General		Pat Toomey	Republican	118,307	53%		Edward J. O'Brien	Democratic	103,864	47%
2002	General		Pat Toomey	Republican	98,493	57%		Edward J. O'Brien	Democratic	73,212	43%
2004	General		Charlie Dent	Republican	170,634	59%		Joe Driscoll	Democratic	141,646	39%
2006	General		Charlie Dent	Republican	106,153	54%		Charles Dertinger	Democratic	86,186	43%
2008	General		Charlie Dent	Republican	181,433	59%		Sam Bennett	Democratic	128,333	41%
2010	General		Charlie Dent	Republican	109,501	54%		John Callahan	Democratic	79,857	39%

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