Indiana's 8th congressional district

Indiana's 8th congressional district
Indiana's 8th congressional district
	Indiana's 8th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Larry Bucshon; R–Newburgh
Area	7,041.64 sq mi (18,237.8 km2)
Distribution	58.10% urban; 41.90% rural;
Population (2000)	675,564
Median household; income	36,732
Ethnicity	94.2% White; 3.7% Black; 0.9% Hispanic; 0.6% Asian; 0.3% other; 0.2% Native American;
Cook PVI	R+8

Indiana's 8th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based in Southwest and west central Indiana, the district is anchored in Evansville and also includes Jasper, Princeton, Terre Haute, Vincennes and Washington.

Commonly referred to as "The Bloody Eighth" at the local (and sometimes national) levels (See below for explanation), it was formerly a notorious swing district.

Counties located in Indiana's 8th Congressional District

As of 2013.

# County	# County	# County	# County	# County
11 Clay Brazil 26,556	13* Crawford English 10,713	14 Daviess Washington 30,726	19 Dubois Jasper 41,889	26 Gibson Princeton 39,750
28 Greene Bloomfield 33,750	42 Knox Vincennes 38,920	51 Martin Shoals 10,370	60 Owen Spencer 21,790	61 Parke Rockville 17,250
62 Perry Tell City 19,332	63 Pike Petersburg 12,845	65 Posey Mt. Vernon 27,500	67 Putnam Greencastle 10,100	74 Spencer Rockport 20,952	77 Sullivan Sullivan 21,750
82 Vanderburgh Evansville 191,220	83 Vermillion Newport 16,790	84 Vigo Terre Haute 105,900	87 Warrick Boonville 59,700

13 Crawford County exists in both the 8th and 9th Congressional Districts. Within Crawford County, two whole townships; Boone, and Johnson exist in the 8th District, while two other townships; Patoka, and Union, are partitioned by Indiana State Road 145 and Interstate 64 respectively.

Cities of 10,000 or more people

(2007 Estimate)

Greencastle - Estimated around 10,100
Jasper - 12,550
Washington - 11,700
Vincennes - 21,500
Terre Haute - 53,100
Evansville - 131,500

5,000 - 10,000 people

(2007 Estimate)

Fort Branch - 5,015
Newburgh - 5,475
North Terre Haute - 5,025
Clinton - 5,128
Sullivan - 5,000
Boonville - 6,125
Linton - 5,770
Mt. Vernon - 7,478
Brazil - 8,041

History

Based in Evansville, the 8th Congressional District was widened when Indiana lost a seat after the 2000 U.S. Census to include much of the former 5th and 7th Congressional Districts. At that time, Bloomington (the home of former U.S. Representative Frank McCloskey) was moved into the 9th Congressional District, while the 8th Congressional District was extended northward to include much of the former 7th Congressional District in west-central Indiana, including Terre Haute. As a result of this expansion, the district is the largest in area in Indiana with all or part of 18 counties.

The district has been nicknamed "The Bloody Eighth" because of a series of hard-fought campaigns and political reversals. Unlike most other districts in the state, which frequently give their representatives long tenures in Washington, the 8th Congressional District has a reputation for frequently ousting its incumbents.^[2] Voters in the district ousted six incumbents from 1966 to 1982. The election in 1984 was so close that it was decided in the House of Representatives. Although Southern Indiana is ancestrally Democratic, the Democrats in this area are nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in the rest of the state; most of them are Blue Dogs. The district also has a strong tint of social conservatism.

In 2000, a New York Times reporter said of the district: "With a populist streak and a conservative bent, this district does not cotton to country club Republicans or to social-engineering liberals," and also said, "More than 95 percent white and about 41 percent rural, the region shares much of the flavor of the Bible Belt."^[3]

The district was previously represented by Brad Ellsworth, a moderate Democrat. As a result of Ellsworth's landslide defeat of 12-year incumbent John Hostettler, it was the first district picked up by the Democrats on Election Night 2006.^[4] Ellsworth ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2010 and was succeeded by Republican Larry Bucshon in the same election cycle.

In 2013, the district shifted away from Northern Indiana and more towards Evansville, losing Fountain and Warren Counties, and gaining Dubois, Perry, and Spencer Counties, and a portion of Crawford County, uniting southwestern Indiana under one district.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District created		March 4, 1843
John Pettit	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1849	[data missing]
Joseph E. McDonald	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 4, 1851	[data missing]
Daniel Mace	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1855	[data missing]
Daniel Mace	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857	[data missing]
James Wilson	Republican	March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861	[data missing]
Albert S. White	Republican	March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863	[data missing]
Godlove S. Orth	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1869	Redistricted to the 7th district.
James N. Tyner	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1875	First elected to the term left vacant by the death of Representative-elect Daniel D. Pratt.
Morton C. Hunter	Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1879	Redistricted from the 6th district.
Abraham J. Hostetler	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1881	[data missing]
Robert B. F. Peirce	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1883	[data missing]
John E. Lamb	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885	[data missing]
James T. Johnston	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889	[data missing]
Elijah V. Brookshire	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1895	[data missing]
George W. Faris	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897	Redistricted to the 5th district.
Charles L. Henry	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899	Redistricted from the 7th district.
George W. Cromer	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1907	[data missing]
John A. M. Adair	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1917	[data missing]
Albert H. Vestal	Republican	March 4, 1917 – April 1, 1932	Died.
Vacant		April 1, 1932 – March 4, 1933
John W. Boehne, Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943	Redistricted from the 1st district.
Charles M. La Follette	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947	[data missing]
E. A. Mitchell	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	[data missing]
Winfield K. Denton	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	[data missing]
D. Bailey Merrill	Republican	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955	[data missing]
Winfield K. Denton	Democratic	January 3, 1955 – December 30, 1966	Resigned.
Vacant		December 30, 1966 – January 3, 1967
Roger H. Zion	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1975	[data missing]
Philip H. Hayes	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977	[data missing]
David L. Cornwell	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979	[data missing]
H. Joel Deckard	Republican	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1983	[data missing]
Frank McCloskey	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985	[data missing]
Vacant		January 3, 1985 – May 1, 1985	Election contested and the House of Representatives refused to seat anyone.
Frank McCloskey	Democratic	May 1, 1985 – January 3, 1995	Final recount won by McCloskey, in disputed election.
John Hostettler	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007	Lost Re-Election
Brad Ellsworth	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Larry Bucshon	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present	First elected in 2010.

Election Results

2002

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2002)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Hostettler*	98,952	51.31
	Democratic	Bryan Hartke	88,763	46.02
	Libertarian	Pam Williams	5,150	2.67
Total votes			192,865	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2004

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2004)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Hostettler*	145,576	53.37
	Democratic	Jon P. Jennings	121,522	44.55
	Libertarian	Mark Garvin	5,680	2.08
Total votes			272,778	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2006

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2006)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brad Ellsworth	131,019	61.02
	Republican	John Hostettler*	83,704	38.98
Total votes			214,723	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic gain from Republican

2008

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2008)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brad Ellsworth*	189,109	64.75
	Republican	Greg Goode	102,940	35.25
Total votes			292,049	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2010

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2010)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Bucshon	117,259	57.55
	Democratic	Trent Van Haaften	76,265	37.43
	Libertarian	John Cunningham	10,240	5.03
Total votes			203,764	100.00
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

2012

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (2012)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Bucshon*	151,533	53.36
	Democratic	Dave Crooks	122,325	43.07
	Libertarian	Bart Gadau	10,134	3.57
Total votes			283,992	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2014

Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Bucshon (Incumbent)	103,344	60.32
	Democratic	Tom Spangler	61,384	35.83
	Libertarian	Andrew Horning	6,587	3.84
Total votes			171,315	100
	Republican hold

Living former Members

As of May 2015^[update], four former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 8th congressional district are alive.

Representative	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Roger H. Zion	1967–1975	(1921-09-17) September 17, 1921 (age 103)
Philip H. Hayes	1975–1977	(1940-09-01) September 1, 1940 (age 84)
John Hostettler	1995–2007	(1961-06-19) June 19, 1961 (age 63)
Brad Ellsworth	2007-2011	(1958-09-11) September 11, 1958 (age 66)

Historical district boundaries

Indiana congressional districts before and after the most recent redistricting

References

^ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
^ "And They're Off And Running!". U.S. News & World Report. January 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
^ Dirk Johnson, "The 2000 Campaign: An Indiana Race; Conservatives Face Off in Quirky Populist District", New York Times, October 10, 2000
^ "Democrats pick up key House seat in Indiana". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

Congressman Larry Bucshon Official House Site

39°N 87°W / 39°N 87°W / 39; -87

[Cook-1] "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.

[2] "And They're Off And Running!". U.S. News & World Report. January 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

[3] Dirk Johnson, "The 2000 Campaign: An Indiana Race; Conservatives Face Off in Quirky Populist District", New York Times, October 10, 2000

[ExitPoll-4] "Democrats pick up key House seat in Indiana". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

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