Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 (Chester County outlined in red)
Representative	Chrissy Houlahan D–Devon
Population (2023)	777,885 [1]
Median household income	$102,246 [2]
Ethnicity	69.2% White 16.4% Hispanic 5.4% Black 5.1% Asian 3.3% Two or more races 0.5% other
Cook PVI	D+5 [3]

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district is a district in the state of Pennsylvania. It includes almost all of Chester County and the southeastern portion of Berks County including the city of Reading and its southeastern suburbs. The district is represented by Democrat Chrissy Houlahan, who has served in Congress since 2019. As currently drawn, the district is among the wealthiest in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania redrew the district in February 2018 after ruling the previous map unconstitutional. ^[4]

Jim Gerlach served as the district's Representative from 2003 to 2014. 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 won the Republican nomination and physician and Iraq war veteran Manan Trivedi secured the Democratic party's nomination. ^[5]

In February 2018, following the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's ordered redrawing of congressional districts, Costello announced he would not stand for reelection and retire at the end of the 115th Congress, leaving businessman Greg McCauley as the sole Republican candidate while the Democrats nominated Air Force veteran Chrissy Houlahan. ^[6] Houlahan defeated McCauley in the general election. ^[7]

Recent statewide election results

Year	Office	Results
2002	Representative	Gerlach 51.4–48.6%
2004	President	Kerry 52–48%
	Representative	Gerlach 51–49%
2006	Representative	Gerlach 50.7–49.3%
2008	President	Obama 58–41%
	Representative	Gerlach 52.1–47.9%
2010	Representative	Gerlach 57.1–42.9%
2012	President	Romney 50.6–48.1%
	Representative	Gerlach 57.1–42.9%
2014	Representative	Costello 56.3–43.7%
2016	President	Clinton 47.6–47.0%
	Representative	Costello 57.3–42.7%
2018	Representative	Houlahan 58.8–41.1%
2020	President	Biden 56.9–41.9%
	Representative	Houlahan 56.1–43.9%
2022	Governor	Shapiro 61–37%
	Senate	Fetterman 56–41%
2024	Representative	Houlahan 56–43%

^{[ citation needed ]}

Geography

2003 to 2012

Prior to the court-ordered redistricting, the 6th district's incarnation dated back to 2002. Its strange shape 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." ^[8] 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. ^[9] The district included parts of Montgomery County, Chester County, Berks County and Lehigh County. The largest cities in the district were Reading and Norristown.

2013 to 2018

The redistricting of 2011/2012 changed it to include parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lebanon counties. The following municipalities constituted the sixth district: ^[10]

Berks County

Townships	Boroughs
Alsace Bern Colebrookdale Cumru District 1,4,6,7 Exeter Heidelberg Herford District 2 Lower Alsace District 2 Lower Heidelberg Maidencreek Marion Muhlenberg 2,3,5,6,7,8,9 North Heidelberg Ontelaunee Penn Richmond Rockland Ruscombmanor South Heidelberg Spring District 5,7,8 Washington	Bally Bechtelsville Bernville Birdsboro Boyertown Fleetwood Kenhorst Laureldale District 1(part) Leesport Robesonia Shillington Sinking Spring St. Lawrence Wernersville Womelsdorf Wyomissing District 1,2,4,5

Chester County

Townships	Boroughs
Caln Charlestown East Bradford District 1 East Brandywine East Caln East Goshen East Nantmeal East Pikeland East Whiteland Easttown Londonderry North Coventry Schuylkill South Coventry Thornbury Tredyffrin Upper Uwchlan Uwchlan West Bradford District 1,2,3 West Goshen West Pikeland West Vincent West Whiteland Westtown Willistown	Downingtown Malvern Phoenixville Spring City West Chester

Lebanon County

Townships	Boroughs
Heidelberg Jackson Millcreek North Lebanon District E South Lebanon West Cornwall	Cornwall Myerstown Richland City of Lebanon Wards 1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10

Montgomery County

Townships	Boroughs
Douglass Limerick Lower Pottsgrove Lower Providence New Hanover Perkiomen District 1,2 Upper Hanover District 3 Upper Pottsgrove Upper Providence West Norriton District 1,2,3 West Pottsgrove	Collegeville East Greenville Pennsburg Pottstown Red Hill Royersford Schwenksville Trappe

2019

The court-ordered map made the 6th a more compact district in Berks and Chester counties. ^[4]

List of members representing the district

1791–1793: one seat

District created in 1791 from the at-large district .

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District first established March 4, 1791
Andrew Gregg (Carlisle)	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793	2nd	Elected in 1791. Redistricted to the at-large district .

District redistricted in 1793 to the at-large district .

1795–1823: one seat, then two

District created in 1795.

Cong ress	Years		Seat A				Seat B
			Representative	Party	Electoral history		Representative	Party	Electoral history
4th	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797		Samuel Maclay (Shippensburg)	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1794. Lost re-election.		Second seat added in 1813
5th 6th 7th	March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1803		John A. Hanna (Harrisburg)	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1796. Re-elected in 1798. Re-elected in 1800. Redistricted to the 4th district .
8th	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805		John Stewart (York)	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1802. Lost re-election.
9th 10th	March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1809		James Kelly (Philadelphia)	Federalist	Elected in 1804. Re-elected in 1806. Lost re-election.
11th 12th	March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1813		William Crawford (Gettysburg)	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1808. Re-elected in 1810. Redistricted to the 5th district .
13th	March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1815		Samuel D. Ingham (New Hope)	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Resigned.		Robert Brown (Weaversville)	Democratic-Republican	Redistricted from the 2nd district and re-elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Retired.
14th	March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817						John Ross (Easton)	Democratic-Republican	Elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Resigned to become president judge of the seventh judicial district of Pennsylvania.
15th	March 4, 1817 – February 24, 1818
	February 24, 1818 – March 3, 1818						Vacant
	March 3, 1818 – July 6, 1818						Thomas Jones Rogers (Easton)	Democratic-Republican	Elected to finish Ross's term. Also elected 1818 to the next term. Re-elected in 1820. Redistricted to the 8th district .
	July 6, 1818 – October 13, 1818		Vacant
	October 13, 1818 – March 3, 1819		Samuel Moore (Doylestown)	Democratic-Republican	Elected to finish Ingham's term. Also elected 1818 to the next term. Re-elected in 1820. Resigned.
16th	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821
17th	March 4, 1821 – May 20, 1822
	May 20, 1822 – October 7, 1822		Vacant
	October 7, 1822 – March 3, 1823		Samuel D. Ingham (New Hope)	Democratic-Republican	Elected to finish Moore's term. Redistricted to the 8th district .

1823 – present: one seat

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
Robert Harris (Harrisburg)	Jackson Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th	Elected in 1822. Re-elected in 1824. Retired.
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
Innis Green (Dauphin)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831	20th 21st	Elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Retired.
John C. Bucher (Harrisburg)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833	22nd	Elected in 1830. Redistricted to the 10th district .
Robert Ramsey (Hartsville)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd	Elected in 1832. Retired.
Mathias Morris (Doylestown)	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th 25th	Elected in 1834. Re-elected in 1836. Lost re-election.
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
John Davis (Davisville)	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841	26th	Elected in 1838. Lost re-election.
Robert Ramsey (Hartsville)	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	27th	Elected in 1840. Retired.
Michael H. Jenks (Newtown)	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	Elected in 1843. Lost re-election.
Jacob Erdman (Coopersburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	29th	Elected in 1844. Lost re-election.
John Westbrook Hornbeck (Allentown)	Whig	March 4, 1847 – January 16, 1848	30th	Elected in 1846. Died.
Vacant		January 17, 1848 – March 5, 1848
Samuel A. Bridges (Allentown)	Democratic	March 6, 1848 – March 3, 1849		Elected to finish Hornbeck's term. Retired.
Thomas Ross (Doylestown)	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	31st 32nd	Elected in 1848. Re-elected in 1850. [ data missing ]
William Everhart (West Chester)	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Elected in 1852. [ data missing ]
John Hickman (West Chester)	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859	34th 35th 36th 37th	Elected in 1854. Re-elected in 1856. Re-elected in 1858. Re-elected in 1860. [ data missing ]
	Anti-Lecompton Democratic	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861
	Republican	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
John D. Stiles (Allentown)	Democratic	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865	38th	Elected in 1862. [ data missing ]
Benjamin M. Boyer (Norristown)	Democratic	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869	39th 40th	Elected in 1864. Re-elected in 1866. Retired.
John D. Stiles (Allentown)	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1868. Retired.
Ephraim L. Acker (Norristown)	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	Elected in 1870. Lost re-election.
James S. Biery (Allentown)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872. Retired.
Washington Townsend (West Chester)	Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1874. Retired.
William Ward (Chester)	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883	45th 46th 47th	Elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Re-elected in 1880. Retired.
James B. Everhart (West Chester)	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Lost renomination.
Smedley Darlington (West Chester)	Republican	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th 51st	Elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Retired.
John B. Robinson (Media)	Republican	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1897	52nd 53rd 54th	Elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Lost re-election.
Thomas S. Butler (West Chester)	Independent Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899	55th 56th 57th	Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. [ data missing ]
	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1903
George D. McCreary (Philadelphia)	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd	Elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Retired.
J. Washington Logue (Philadelphia)	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	Elected in 1912. Lost re-election.
George P. Darrow (Philadelphia)	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923	64th 65th 66th 67th	Elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Redistricted to the 7th district .
George A. Welsh (Philadelphia)	Republican	March 4, 1923 – May 31, 1932	68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Resigned to become a district court judge.
Vacant		May 31, 1932 – November 8, 1932	72nd
Robert L. Davis (Philadelphia)	Republican	November 8, 1932 – March 3, 1933		Elected to finish Welsh's term. [ data missing ]
Edward L. Stokes (Philadelphia)	Republican	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	Redistricted from the 2nd district and re-elected in 1932. Retired to run for Governor.
Michael J. Stack (Philadelphia)	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939	74th 75th	Elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Lost renomination and lost re-election under a different party.
Francis J. Myers (Philadelphia)	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945	76th 77th 78th	Elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. [ data missing ]
Herbert J. McGlinchey (Philadelphia)	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th	Elected in 1944. Lost re-election.
Hugh Scott (Philadelphia)	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1959	80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th	Elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Herman Toll (Philadelphia)	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1963	86th 87th	Elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Redistricted to the 4th district .
George M. Rhodes (Reading)	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1969	88th 89th 90th	Redistricted from the 14th district and re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Retired.
Gus Yatron (Reading)	Democratic	January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1993	91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Retired.
Tim Holden (St. Clair)	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	Elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Redistricted to the 17th district .
Jim Gerlach (Upper Uwchlan Township)	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Retired.
Ryan Costello (West Chester)	Republican	January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019	114th 115th	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Retired.
Chrissy Houlahan (Devon)	Democratic	January 3, 2019 – present	116th 117th 118th	Elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

Recent election results

2012

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2012 ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Gerlach (Incumbent)	191,725	57.1
	Democratic	Manan Trivedi	143,803	42.9
Total votes			335,528	100.0
	Republican hold

2014

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2014 ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Costello	119,643	56.3
	Democratic	Manan Trivedi	92,901	43.7
Total votes			212,544	100.0
	Republican hold

2016

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2016 ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Costello (incumbent)	207,469	57.2
	Democratic	Mike Parrish	155,000	42.8
Total votes			362,469	100.0
	Republican hold

2018

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2018 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chrissy Houlahan	177,704	58.9
	Republican	Greg McCauley	124,124	41.1
Total votes			301,828	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2020

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2020 ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chrissy Houlahan (incumbent)	226,440	56.1
	Republican	John Emmons	177,526	43.9
Total votes			403,966	100.0
	Democratic hold

2022

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, 2022 ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chrissy Houlahan (incumbent)	190,386	58.3
	Republican	Guy Ciarrocchi	136,097	41.7
Total votes			326,483	100.00
	Democratic hold

Historical district boundaries

• 
  2003–2013
• 
  2013–2019
• 
  2019–2023

See also

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

• United States portal
• Pennsylvania portal

References

1. "My Congressional District".
2. "Congressional District 6 (118th Congress), Pennsylvania" (under "Socio-Economic" header), census.gov . Retrieved 2024-09-22.
3. "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". The Cook Political Report . July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
4. Cohn, Nate; Bloch, Matthew; Quealy, Kevin (February 19, 2018). "The New Pennsylvania House Districts Are In. We Review the Mapmakers' Choices". The Upshot. The New York Times . Retrieved February 20, 2018.
5. "Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014 - Ballotpedia".
6. Prokop, Andrew (May 16, 2018). "These 6 Pennsylvania Democratic nominees are key to the battle for House control". Vox . Retrieved January 4, 2019.
7. Burke, Michael (November 6, 2018). "Democrat Chrissy Houlahan elected to House in Pennsylvania". The Hill . Retrieved January 4, 2019.
8. VIETH et al. v. JUBELIRER, PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SENATE, et al., 541 U.S. 267 (United States Supreme Court 2004) (see http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=02-1580) (plurality opinion of Court holding political gerrymandering claims in the District nonjusticiable based on the lack of workable standards)
9. "2012 COMPETITIVE HOUSE RACE CHART". The Cook Political Report . Retrieved March 27, 2012.
10. "Municipalities | Congressman Ryan Costello". Archived from the original on September 7, 2016.
11. "Statistics of Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 2012". Karen Haas, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. February 28, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
12. "Pennsylvania 2014 General Election - November 4, 2014 Official Results". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 4, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
13. "Pennsylvania 2016 General Election - November 8, 2016 Official Results". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
14. "2018 General Election: Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
15. "2020 Presidential Election - Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
16. "2022 General Election Official Returns - Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Department of State.

• 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

40°03′37″N75°38′27″W / 40.06028°N 75.64083°W / 40.06028; -75.64083