2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the 18 U.S. representatives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on April 26. District 1. The 1st district included central and South Philadelphia, the City of Chester, the Philadelphia  International Airport and other small sections of Delaware County. Democratic primary. The incumbent was Democrat Bob Brady, who had represented the district since 1998. He was re-elected with 83% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of D+28. Brady was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Bryan Leib had filed with the FEC and announced his intention to challenge Brady for the Democratic nomination in July 2015, but did not file to run. Republican primary. Debbie Williams ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. District 2. The 2nd district includes parts of West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia and  Northwest Philadelphia in addition to Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County. Special election. On June 23, 2016, two days after being convicted of 22 corruption charges, Democratic incumbent Chaka Fattah, who had represented the district since 1995, resigned his seat in Congress. On July 1, 2016, Governor Tom Wolf announced that a special election would be held on November 8, concurrently with the regularly-scheduled election, to fill Fattah's seat for the final eight weeks of the 114th United States Congress. Democratic primary. Fattah was re-elected with 88% of the vote in 2014 and the district has a  PVI of D+38. Fattah was defeated in the Democratic primary by state Representative Dwight E. Evans. Republican primary. James Jones ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. District 3. The 3rd district was in Northwestern Pennsylvania and included the cities of Erie, Sharon, Hermitage, Butler and Meadville. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Mike Kelly, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 61% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+8. Kelly ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. District 4. The 4th district was in South Central Pennsylvania and included all  of Adams and York counties and parts of Cumberland County. Democratic primary. Josh Burkholder ran for the Democratic nomination. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Scott Perry, who has represented the district since 2013. He was elected with 75% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+9. Perry ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. District 5. The 5th district, the state's largest and most sparsely populated, was in North Central Pennsylvania and included all of Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Huntingdon, Jefferson, McKean and Potter counties and parts of Clearfield, Crawford, Erie, Tioga , Warren and Venango counties. Democratic primary. Attorney Kerith Strano Taylor, who was the Democratic nominee in 2014, ran again. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Glenn Thompson, who had represented the district since 2009. He was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+8. Thompson ran for re-election. District 6. The 6th district included communities north and west of the City of Philadelphia. Democratic primary. Candidates Withdrawn Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Ryan Costello, who had represented the district since 2015. He was elected with 56% of the vote  in 2014, succeeding retiring Republican Jim Gerlach, and the district had a PVI of R+2. District 7. The 7th district was in the Philadelphia suburbs, including most of Delaware County along with portions of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Pat Meehan, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+2. Stan Casacio, a businessman and former Cheltenham Town Councilman, challenged Meehan for the Republican nomination. District 8. The 8th district was in Southeastern Pennsylvania and included  Bucks County, along with portions of Montgomery County. Democratic primary. State Representative Steve Santarsiero sought the Democratic nomination for the seat. Other potential Democratic candidates included former U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia, businesswoman and 2014 candidate Shaughnessy Naughton, and United States Army Ranger and 2014 nominee Kevin Strouse. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, who had represented the district since 2011, and previously represented it from 2005 to 2007. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+1. Fitzpatrick, a supporter of term limits , had pledged to limit himself to four terms in the House and did not run for re-election. Dr. Marc Duome, a clinical psychologist and businessman declared his candidacy for the seat. Potential Republican candidates included State Senator Chuck McIlhinney, State Representatives Gene DiGirolamo and Scott Petri and Bucks County Commissioner Rob Loughery. Former Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley had been speculated to run, but he instead became president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. District 9. The 9th district was in South Central Pennsylvania and included Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Somerset , Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Bill Shuster, who had represented the district since 2001. He was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+14. Shuster, the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was challenged in the 2014 Republican primary by two candidates, Art Halvorson and Travis Schooley, unhappy with his support for earmarks that bring projects to the district. Halvorson and Schooley both were considering running again. On April 24, 2015, The Hill reported that businessman Tom Smith, who self-funded a  2012 U.S. Senate campaign, was considering a primary challenge of Shuster. Halvorson had pledged that he would not run if Smith did and would support him. In July, Smith announced he would not run, citing unexpected health concerns. After Smith declined to run, Halvorson announced he would run again. On October 17, 2015, Smith died. Democratic primary. While no Democrat appeared on the ballot, Arthur Halvorson, who lost in the Republican primary, received enough Democratic write-in votes to be the Democratic nominee; Halvorson vowed to caucus as a conservative Republican if elected. District 10. The 10th district was in  Northeastern Pennsylvania and included Monroe, Pike, Lackawanna, Wayne, Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Sullivan, Lycoming, Union, Columbia, Snyder, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry counties. Democratic primary. After no candidate stepped forward initially to run for the seat, three write in candidates announced to vie for the Democratic nomination. Former Lewisburg Mayor and environmental consultant, Mike Molesevich, Bucknell graduate student, Steve Belskie, and Justin Sheare all sought the Democratic nomination. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Tom Marino, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2014. Primary results. Jerry Kaines, a Lycoming County building  materials salesman, had formed an exploratory committee for a potential Independent campaign. District 11. The 11th district was in Northeastern Pennsylvania and included Wyoming, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Northumberland, Dauphin, Perry and Cumberland counties. Democratic primary. Former Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano ran as a Democrat. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Lou Barletta, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 66% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+6. Barletta ran for re-election. District 12. The 12th district was in Southwestern Pennsylvania and included all of Beaver County and parts  of Allegheny, Cambria, Lawrence, Somerset and Westmoreland counties. Democratic primary. 2014 Democratic nominee Erin McClelland announced that she would run again in 2016. Attorney and renewable energy business owner Steve Larchuk, who ran in 2004 in the 4th district on a healthcare platform in support of Universal Healthcare for the United States, also ran for the Democratic nomination. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Keith Rothfus, who had represented the district since 2013. He was re-elected with 59% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+9. District 13. The 13th district was in Southeastern Pennsylvania , covering eastern Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. Democratic primary. The incumbent was Democrat Brendan Boyle, who had represented the district since 2015. He was elected with 67% of the vote in 2014, succeeding retiring Democrat Allyson Schwartz, and the district had a PVI of D+13. Republican primary. Armond James ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. District 14. The 14th district included the entire city of Pittsburgh and parts of surrounding suburbs. Democratic primary. The incumbent was Democrat Michael F. Doyle, who had represented the district since 2003, and previously represented the 18th district from 1995 to 2003. He was re -elected with 84% of the vote in the primary and unopposed in the general in 2014; the district had a PVI of D+15. Doyle was challenged for the Democratic nomination by Janis Brooks, who ran against him in 2012 and 2014. District 15. The 15th district was in Eastern Pennsylvania and included Lehigh County and parts of Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon and Northampton counties. Democratic primary. Democratic candidates who planned to run included former Lehigh County Democratic Committee Chairman and 2012 nominee Rick Daugherty, Laura Quick, and David A. Clark. Archie Follweiler, a former Kutztown Borough councilman and state house candidate  in 2006, filed paperwork with the FEC to run as a Democrat in June 2015, but had not made any announcement on whether he would run. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Charlie Dent, who had represented the district since 2005. He was re-elected unopposed in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+2. District 16. The 16th district was in Southeastern Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia and included a large portion of southern Chester County, most of Lancaster County and a sliver of Berks County, including the city of Reading. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Joe  Pitts, who had represented the district since 1997. He was re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+4. Pitts did not run for re-election. District 17. The 17th district was in Eastern Pennsylvania and included Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe, Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. Democratic primary. The incumbent was Democrat Matt Cartwright, who had represented the district since 2013. He was re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2014 and the district had a PVI of D+4. Republican primary. Northampton County Councilman Glenn Geissinger and 2014 candidate Matt Connolly ran for  the Republican nomination. District 18. The 18th district was in the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh and included parts of Allegheny, Washington, Greene and Westmoreland counties. Republican primary. The incumbent was Republican Tim Murphy, who had represented the district since 2003. He was re-elected unopposed in 2014 and the district had a PVI of R+10.