Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District is a congressional district in the state of Pennsylvania. It includes communities north and west of the City of Philadelphia. It is represented by Ryan Costello

The district was substantially redrawn in 2002 and again slightly modified in 2012. Its strange shape in 2002 brought charges of gerrymandering by Democrats who argued it "looms like a dragon descending on Philadelphia from the west, splitting up towns and communities throughout Montgomery and Berks Counties."^[2] The combination of very affluent suburban areas of Philadelphia and sparsely populated rural areas was possibly designed to capture Republican voters, but changes in voting patterns in southeastern Pennsylvania has made the District much more competitive. The District had a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+1 after the 2012 redistricting. It was rated D+4 before then.^[3]

The redistricting of 2011/2012 changed it to include parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lebanon counties.

Elections

Gerlach has served as the District's Representative since 2003. In 2004 and 2006, Gerlach won re-election against fellow attorney and now Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lois Murphy. In 2008, he successfully ran for re-election against businessman and veteran Bob Roggio. In the 2010 and 2012 elections, Gerlach defeated physician and Iraq War veteran Manan Trivedi, the Democratic nominee.

In January, 2014 Gerlach announced that he would not stand for reelection to the 114th Congress. In the race to succeed Gerlach, Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello has won the Republican nomination and physician and Iraq war veteran Manan Trivedi has secured the Democratic party's nomination.^[4]

Geography

2003 to 2013

The district included parts of Montgomery County, Chester County, Berks County and Lehigh County. The largest cities in the district were Reading and Norristown.

The following communities were all or partly in the sixth district:

Berks County

Cities: Reading: Wards: 1, 3 (Division 2), 9 (Division 5) Wards: 13 (Division 4 and 5), 14 (Divisions 1,5 and 6) Wards: 16 – 18, and 19 (Division 1)

Townships: Amity, Alsace, Brecknock, Caernarvon, Colebrookdale, Cumru, District, Douglass, Earl District 2, Exeter, Hereford District 1, Longswamp, Lower Alsace, Muhlenberg Districts 1 and 4, Pike, Robeson, South Heidelberg Precinct 2, Spring District 1, Union and Washington

Boroughs: Adamstown, Bally, Bechtelsville, Birdsboro, Boyertown, Kenhorst, Kutztown, Mohnton, Mount Penn, New Morgan, Shillington, Sinking Spring, St. Lawrence, Topton, West Lawn, West Reading, Womelsdorf, Wyomissing, and Wyomissing Hills

Chester County

Cities: Coatesville

Townships: Caln, Charlestown, East Bradford Districts North and South (Division 2), East Brandywine, East Caln, East Coventry, East Nantmeal, East Pikeland, East Vincent, East Whiteland, Easttown, Honey Brook, North Coventry, Pocopson, Sadsbury, Schuylkill, South Coventry, Tredyffrin, Upper Uwchlan, Uwchlan, Valley, Wallace, Warwick, West Bradford, West Brandywine, West Caln, West Nantmeal, West Pikeland, West Sadsbury, West Vincent and West Whiteland, Willistown

Boroughs: Atglen, Downingtown, Elverson, Honey Brook, Modena, Phoenixville Wards East (Divisions 2 and 3), Middle, North and West, South Coatesville and Spring City

Lehigh County

Townships: Upper Macungie District 3

Montgomery County

Townships: East Norriton, Limerick, Lower Merion, Perkiomen, Plymouth Districts 1, 3 (Precinct 2), and 4, Skippack. Whitemarsh Districts W1 and W2, Whitpain District 8 and Worcester.

Boroughs: Collegeville, Conshohocken District 1, Narberth, Norristown, Pottstown and Trappe

List of representatives

1791–1793: One seat

District created in 1791 from Pennsylvania's At-large congressional district

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Note
Andrew Gregg	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793		Redistricted to At-large district

District redistricted in 1793 to Pennsylvania's At-large congressional district

1795–1823: One seat, then two

District created in 1795 from Pennsylvania's At-large congressional district

Cong ress	Years		Seat A				Seat B
			Representative	Party	Electoral history		Representative	Party	Electoral history
4	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797		Samuel Maclay	Democratic-Republican	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]		Second seat added in 1813
5	March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1803		John A. Hanna	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted to the 4th district
6	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801
7	March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803
8	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805		John Stewart	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 8th district
9	March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1807		James Kelly	Federalist	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
10	March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1809
11	March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1811		William Crawford	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted to the 5th district
12	March 4, 1811 – March 3, 1813
13	March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1815		Samuel D. Ingham	Democratic-Republican	Resigned		Robert Brown	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 2nd district Retired
14	March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817			John Ross			Democratic-Republican	Resigned to become president judge of the seventh judicial district of Pennsylvania
15	March 4, 1817 – February 24, 1818
	February 24, 1818 – March 3, 1818			Vacant
	March 3, 1818 – July 6, 1818			Thomas Jones Rogers	Democratic-Republican		Redistricted to the 8th district
	July 6, 1818 – October 13, 1818		Vacant
	October 13, 1818 – March 3, 1819		Samuel Moore	Democratic-Republican	Resigned
16	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821
17	March 4, 1821 – May 20, 1822
	May 20, 1822 – October 7, 1822		Vacant
	October 7, 1822 – March 3, 1823		Samuel D. Ingham	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted to the 8th district

1823 – present: One seat

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
Robert Harris	Jackson Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
Innis Green	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John C. Bucher	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Robert Ramsey	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	Retired
Mathias Morris	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
John Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841	Lost re-election
Robert Ramsey	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	Retired
Michael H. Jenks	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	Lost re-election
Jacob Erdman	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	Lost re-election
John Westbrook Hornbeck	Whig	March 4, 1847 – January 16, 1848	Died
Vacant		January 17, 1848 – March 5, 1848
Samuel A. Bridges	Democratic	March 6, 1848 – March 3, 1849	Retired
Thomas Ross	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
William Everhart	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John Hickman	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Anti-Lecompton Democrat	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861
	Republican	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
John D. Stiles	Democratic	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Benjamin M. Boyer	Democratic	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869	Retired
John D. Stiles	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	Redistricted from the 7th district Retired
Ephraim L. Acker	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	Lost re-election
James S. Biery	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	Retired
Washington Townsend	Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	Redistricted from the 7th district Retired
William Ward	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883	Retired
James B. Everhart	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	Lost renomination
Smedley Darlington	Republican	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	Retired
John B. Robinson	Republican	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1897	Lost re-election
Thomas S. Butler	Independent Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1903
George D. McCreary	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	Retired
J. Washington Logue	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1915	Lost re-election
George P. Darrow	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923	Redistricted to the 7th district
George A. Welsh	Republican	March 4, 1923 – May 31, 1932	Resigned to become a district court judge
Vacant		May 31, 1932 – November 8, 1932
Robert L. Davis	Republican	November 8, 1932 – March 3, 1933	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Edward L. Stokes	Republican	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	Redistricted from the 2nd district, Retired to run for Governor
Michael J. Stack	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939	Lost renomination, and lost re-election under a different Party
Francis J. Myers	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945
Herbert J. McGlinchey	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	Lost re-election
Hugh Scott	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1959	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Herman Toll	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1963	Redistricted to the 4th district
George M. Rhodes	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1969	Redistricted from the 14th district Retired
Gus Yatron	Democratic	January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1993	Retired
Tim Holden	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003	Redistricted to the 17th district
Jim Gerlach	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	First elected in 2002
Ryan Costello	Republican	January 3, 2015 –	First elected in 2014

Historical district boundaries

2005 - 2013

See also

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

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

External links

• Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania

Coordinates: 40°03′37″N 75°38′27″W / 40.06028°N 75.64083°W / 40.06028; -75.64083