Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
Current Representative		Mark Critz (D–Johnstown)
Distribution	62.56% urban, 37.44% rural
Population (2000)	646,249
Median income	$30,612
Ethnicity	95.3% White, 3.3% Black, 0.3% Asian, 0.6% Hispanic, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+1

Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district is represented by Congressman Mark Critz (D) after a special election was held on May 18, 2010 following the death of Democrat John Murtha. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+1. The district is notable as the only congressional district in the nation that voted for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004 but went for Republican John McCain in 2008.

Geography

Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, the 12th District consists of all of Greene County, and parts of Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. A thoroughly unionized district, the 12th has historically been among the most Democratic areas of the state. However, the Democrats in this area are not as liberal as their counterparts in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Most of them are somewhat conservative on social issues, particularly abortion and gun control.

The 12th includes all of Greene County, a highly rural region that still has a traditionally Democratic influence due to its labor leanings. In Washington county, the city of Washington, a large and Democratic edge suburb of Pittsburgh is a part of the 12th, as well as the eastern portion of the county. Most of the Monongahela Valley region, a very Democratic area that was once an important steel-making area, is also part of the 12th. However, more rural western Washington County and the suburban northern portion of the county (with towns like McDonald and Canonsburg) belongs to the 18th. The western portion of Fayette County, including the city of Uniontown, a labor Democratic stronghold is part of this district, while the rural mountainous eastern portion is a part of the 9th.

The 12th District continues eastward, including southeastern and northeastern parts of Westmoreland County, including the labor Democratic city of Latrobe, while leaving the suburban western part of the county (with towns such as Murrysville) and the generally left-leaning city of Greensburg in the 18th. The major population base of the district is located just to the east, taking in most of Somerset and Cambria counties. This area, the heart of a large coal-mining region, includes the district's largest city, Johnstown. The 12th also contains a part of Indiana County, mainly the college town of Indiana.

The 12th completes its wrap around the metro Pittsburgh region by ending in the northeastern corner of the city's suburbs, containing middle class regions such as Lower Burrell and the working class suburb of New Kensington. A portion of Armstrong County is also included in the district, including several industrial suburbs such as Freeport and Apollo.

Demographics

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History

After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state legislature radically altered the 12th in an effort to get more Republicans elected from traditionally heavily Democratic southwestern Pennsylvania. A large chunk of the old 20th District was incorporated into the 12th. In some parts of the western portion of the district, one side of the street is in the 12th while the other side of the street is in the 18th District (the reconfigured 20th). This led to criticism that the 12th was a gerrymander intended to pack as many of southwestern Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas as possible into just two districts—the 12th and the Pittsburgh-based 14th.

2006 election

In the 2006 election, Murtha was re-elected with 61% of the vote. His Republican opponent, Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey, received 39%.

2008 election

John Murtha won the 2008 election with 58% of the vote. Murtha was a United States Marine and the first Vietnam War veteran to serve in Congress. He defeated Lt. Col. William T. Russell, an army veteran.

2010 special election

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell scheduled a special election for May 18, 2010, following the death of Representative John Murtha. On March 8, 2010, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's Executive Committee nominated Mark Critz, Murtha's former district director.^[1] On March 11, a convention of Republicans from the 12th district nominated businessman Tim Burns.^[2] The Libertarian Party's candidate was Demo Agoris, who ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 48th district as a Libertarian in 2006.

Mark Critz won the election.

2010 election

Mark Critz was re-elected in the regularly scheduled 2010 election; again beating Republican Tim Burns (this time with 51% of the vote against 49%).

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District created in 1795 from Pennsylvania's At-large congressional district
Albert Gallatin	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 4, 1801	Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
William Hoge	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1803	Redistricted to 10th District
District eliminated		1803
District restored		1813
Aaron Lyle	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1817	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Thomas Patterson	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1823	Redistricted to 15th District
John Brown	Jacksonian DR	March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1825	Redistricted from 9th District
John Mitchell	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829	Lost re-election
John Scott	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1831	Lost re-election
Robert Allison	Anti-Masonic	March 4, 1831 – March 4, 1833	Retired
George Chambers	Anti-Masonic	March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Daniel Sheffer	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1839	Lost re-election
James Cooper	Whig	March 4, 1839 – March 4, 1843	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Almon H. Read	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – June 3, 1844	Redistricted from 17th District Died
Vacant		June 3, 1844 – December 2, 1844
George Fuller	Democratic	December 2, 1844 – March 4, 1845	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
David Wilmot	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1851	Retired
Galusha A. Grow	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1853	Redistricted to the 14th District
Hendrick B. Wright	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1855	Lost re-election
Henry M. Fuller	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857	Retired
John G. Montgomery	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – April 24, 1857	Died
Vacant		April 24, 1857 – December 7, 1857
Paul Leidy	Democratic	December 7, 1857 – March 4, 1859	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
George W. Scranton	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 24, 1861	Died
Vacant		March 24, 1861 – July 4, 1861
Hendrick B. Wright	Democratic	July 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Charles Denison	Democratic	March 4, 1863- June 27, 1867	Died
Vacant		June 27, 1867 – November 21, 1867
George W. Woodward	Democratic	November 21, 1867 – March 4, 1871	Retired
Lazarus D. Shoemaker	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1875	Retired
Winthrop W. Ketcham	Republican	March 4, 1875 – July 19, 1876	Resigned to become U.S. District Judge
Vacant		July 19, 1876 – November 7, 1876
William H. Stanton	Democratic	November 7, 1876 – March 4, 1877	Retired
Hendrick B. Wright	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1879	Lost re-election
	Greenback	March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1881
Joseph A. Scranton	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1883	Lost re-election
Daniel W. Connolly	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885	Lost re-election
Joseph A. Scranton	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1887	Lost re-election
John Lynch	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1889	Lost re-election
Edwin S. Osborne	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1891	Redistricted from At-large District Retired
George W. Shonk	Republican	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1893	Declined to be a candidate for renomination
William H. Hines	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1895	Lost re-election
John Leisenring	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897	Declined to be a candidate for re-election
Morgan B. Williams	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899	Lost re-election
Stanley W. Davenport	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1901	Lost renomination
Henry W. Palmer	Republican	March 4, 1901 – March 4, 1903	Redistricted to 11th District
George R. Patterson	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 21, 1906	Died
Vacant		January 21, 1906 – November 6, 1906
Charles N. Brumm	Republican	November 6, 1906 – January 4, 1909	Resigned when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Vacant		January 4, 1909 – March 4, 1909
Alfred B. Garner	Republican	March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1911	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Robert E. Lee	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 4, 1915	Lost re-election
Robert D. Heaton	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1919	Retired
John Reber	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 4, 1923	Retired
John J. Casey	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 4, 1925	Lost re-election
Edmund N. Carpenter	Republican	March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1927	Lost re-election
John J. Casey	Democratic	March 4, 1927 – May 5, 1929	Died
Vacant		May 5, 1929 – June 4, 1929
C. Murray Turpin	Republican	June 4, 1929 – January 3, 1937	Lost re-election
J. Harold Flannery	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1942	Resigned to become judge of the common pleas court of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Vacant		January 3, 1942 – May 19, 1942
Thomas B. Miller	Republican	May 19, 1942 – January 3, 1945	Lost re-election
Ivor D. Fenton	Republican	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1963	Redistricted from 13th District Lost re-election
J. Irving Whalley	Republican	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1973	Redistricted from 18th District Retired
John P. Saylor	Republican	January 3, 1973 – October 28, 1973	Redistricted from 22nd District Died
Vacant		October 28, 1973 – February 5, 1974
John Murtha	Democratic	February 5, 1974 – February 8, 2010	Died
Vacant		February 8, 2010 – May 18, 2010
Mark Critz	Democratic	May 18, 2010 – Present	Elected to finish Murtha's term Re-elected in 2010

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