Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
	Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Charlie Dent; R–Allentown
Distribution	87.30% urban; 12.70% rural;
Population (2000)	646,300
Median household; income	45,330
Ethnicity	89.5% White; 7.9% Hispanic; 3.1% Black; 1.7% Asian; 0.2% Native American; 0.2% other;
Cook PVI	R+2

Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District is located in eastern Pennsylvania. The district stretches from the suburbs east of Harrisburg to communities east of Allentown and the New Jersey border. Counties located in the district include all of Lehigh County and parts of Berks County, Dauphin County, Lebanon County, and Northampton County.

From 2003 to 2013 it comprised all of Northampton County, most of Lehigh County, and small parts of Berks and Montgomery Counties. The district included 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 traditionally has elected Republicans recently. During 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 R +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	Electoral history
District created in 1813
Vacant		March 4, 1813 – May 14, 1813
Thomas Wilson	Democratic- Republican	May 14, 1813 – March 3, 1817	Elected after the resignation of Representative-elect Abner Lacock
Robert Moore	Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821	Retired
Patrick Farrelly	Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823	Redistricted to the 18th district
Thomas Patterson	Jacksonian Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	Redistricted from the 12th district Lost renomination
Joseph Lawrence	Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829	Lost re-election
William McCreery	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831	Lost re-election
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	Retired
David Petrikin	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841	[data missing]
Benjamin A. Bidlack	Democratic	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	Redistricted to the 11th district
Henry Nes	Independent Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	[data missing]
Moses McClean	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	[data missing]
Henry Nes	Whig	March 4, 1847 – September 10, 1850	Died
Vacant		September 10, 1850 – December 2, 1850
Joel B. Danner	Democratic	December 2, 1850 – March 3, 1851	[data missing]
William H. Kurtz	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	Redistricted to the 25th district
James Gamble	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Redistricted from the 13th district
John J. Pearce	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Retired
Allison White	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	Lost re-election
James T. Hale	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863	Redistricted to the 18th district
Joseph Bailey	Democratic	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865	Redistricted from the 16th district
Adam J. Glossbrenner	Democratic	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869	Lost re-election
Richard J. Haldeman	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873	Retired
John A. Magee	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	Lost renomination
Joseph Powell	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	Lost re-election
Edward Overton, Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881	Lost renomination
Cornelius C. Jadwin	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	Lost re-election
George A. Post	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	[data missing]
Frank C. Bunnell	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889	Retired
Myron B. Wright	Republican	March 4, 1889 – November 13, 1894	Died
Vacant		November 13, 1894 – February 23, 1895
Edwin J. Jorden	Republican	February 23, 1895 – March 3, 1895	Retired
Vacant		March 4, 1895 – November 5, 1895
James H. Codding	Republican	November 5, 1895 – March 3, 1899	Elected after the death of Representative-elect Myron B. Wright Retired
Charles F. Wright	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1903	Retired
Elias Deemer	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1907	Redistricted from the 16th district Lost re-election
William B. Wilson	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1913	Lost re-election
Edgar R. Kiess	Republican	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1923	Redistricted to the 16th district
Louis T. McFadden	Republican	March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1935	Redistricted from the 14th district Lost re-election
Charles E. Dietrich	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937	Lost re-election
Albert G. Rutherford	Republican	January 3, 1937 – August 10, 1941	Died
Vacant		August 10, 1941 – November 4, 1941
Wilson D. Gillette	Republican	November 4, 1941 – January 3, 1945	Redistricted to the 14th district
Robert F. Rich	Republican	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1951	Retired
Alvin Bush	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953	Redistricted to the 17th district
Francis E. Walter	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – May 31, 1963	Redistricted from the 21st district Died
Vacant		May 31, 1963 – July 30, 1963
Fred B. Rooney	Democratic	July 30, 1963 – January 3, 1979	First elected to finish Walter's term Lost re-election
Donald L. Ritter	Republican	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993	Lost re-election
Paul F. McHale, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999	Retired
Pat Toomey	Republican	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Charlie Dent	Republican	January 3, 2005 – Present	First elected in 2004

Recent Elections

Historical district boundaries

References

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

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

Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania


Year	Election	Nominee	Party	Votes	%	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%	Jake Towne	Independent	14,252	8%
2012	General	Charlie Dent	Republican	168,960	57%	Rick Daugherty	Democratic	128,764	43%
2014	General	Charlie Dent	Republican	128,285	100%
2016	General	Charlie Dent	Republican	185,204	58%	Rick Daugherty	Democratic	120,190	38%	Paul Rizzo	Libertarian	11,332	4%

40°31′44″N 75°57′45″W / 40.52889°N 75.96250°W / 40.52889; -75.96250

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

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