The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania were held on November 6, 2018, 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 2018 gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
In January 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state's congressional map, ruling it had been unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans. New maps were subsequently adopted in February 2018.
The 2018 general election saw the Democrats gain four seats and the Republicans gain one seat, for a Democratic net gain of three seats, changing the state's representation from 12 to 6 Republican to a 9âÂÂ9 tie. In addition, Pennsylvanians in several districts elected female candidates to the U.S. House, thus ending four years of all-male Congressional representation in the state.
In January 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state's congressional map, ruling it had been unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans. New maps were subsequently adopted in February 2018, for use in the 2018 elections; they took effect with representation in 2019.
Results of the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania:
The 1st district previously consisted of central and South Philadelphia, the City of Chester, the Philadelphia International Airport and other small sections of Delaware County. Under the new congressional map that was in place in 2019 (represented per 2018's elections), the first district overlaps with much of the former 8th district, which was represented by Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick took office in 2017, succeeding his brother, former Representative Mike Fitzpatrick. The new 1st district consists of Bucks County and a small portion of Montgomery County.
The old 8th district was included on the initial list of Republican held seats being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The race featured a number of negative ads between Reddick and Wallace. With Reddick's campaign releasing an ad calling Wallace a âÂÂMaryland multi-millionaireâ and stating that he had case an absentee ballot cast from his second home in a South African âÂÂgated luxury estateâÂÂ. The Wallace campaign responded with an ad higlishting Reddick flubbing a question about the so-called âÂÂglobal gag ruleâ during a campaign stop in Ottsville, and for her having been registered as a Republican for most of her adult life.
Many DC Democrats expressed excitement about Wallace's potential to spend big to defeat Fitzpatrick, especially in the expensive Philadelphia market. He loaned his campaign $2.5 million while Reddick only raised $363,000 and was shunned by most party strategists.
Fitzpatrick held out to win re-election, despite many similar suburban districts held by Republicans falling to Democrats in the 2018 cycle. Fitzpatrick did this by establishing a reputation for himself as an independent centrist who attained endorsements from several usually-left-leaning and nonpartisan groups without enraging the more fervently pro-Trump wing of the Republican party. Analysts considered the Democratic nominee Scott Wallace an unusually weak candidate: he was a wealthy heir who moved to the district, opening up accusations of carpetbagging, and made several gaffes and missteps. Editor Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report wrote that Wallace was perhaps the weakest candidate of the 2018 cycle.
The 2nd district consists of the northern half of Philadelphia. It mostly overlaps with the old 1st District. That district's incumbent, Democrat Bob Brady, had served since 1998, but did not run for reelection. The incumbent of the old 2nd district was Dwight Evans, but Evans opted to follow most of his constituents into the 3rd District.
The new map drew the home of fellow Democrat Brendan Boyle, who had represented the neighboring 13th District since 2015, into the 2nd, leading to speculation that he would run for reelection there. Soon after the new map was released, Boyle confirmed that he would indeed run in the 2nd.
The 3rd district was previously located in Northwestern Pennsylvania, but now covers downtown and northern Philadelphia, and overlaps with much of the previous 2nd district. The incumbent from the 2nd district was Democrat Dwight Evans, who had held office since 2016. Evans defeated incumbent Democratic Representative Chaka Fattah in the 2016 Democratic primary, and then went on to be elected with 90% in both the general election and a simultaneous special election for the remainder of the term after Fattah resigned.
The old 4th district was in South Central Pennsylvania, but the new 4th district is centered in Montgomery County. The district overlaps with the former 13th district. The incumbent from this district, Democrat Brendan Boyle, could have sought re-election in either this district or the new 2nd district, which absorbed his home and most of the old 13th's share of Philadelphia. Boyle opted to run in the 2nd, making the 4th an open seat.
State Senator Daylin Leach had announced that he would run for Congress in the old 7th District, but was expected to switch races after his home was drawn into the new 4th. However, on February 24, 2018, Leach succumbed to pressures from fellow Democrats, including Governor Tom Wolf, to abandon his congressional campaign in the face of accusations of sexual harassment. However, he remained in his Pennsylvania Senate seat.
The old 5th district was in North Central Pennsylvania, but the new 5th district consists of Delaware County, portions of southern Philadelphia, and a sliver of Montgomery County. The district overlaps with much of the old 7th district, whose incumbent Republican Representative Pat Meehan chose not to seek re-election, due to allegations regarding a sexual harassment complaint that was settled with the use of taxpayer funds, and subsequently resigned from office in April.
The 6th district consists of Chester County and Reading. The incumbent was Republican Ryan Costello, who had represented the district since 2015. He was re-elected to a second term with 57% of the vote in 2016. On March 24, 2018, Costello announced that he would no longer seek re-election due to the growing Democratic voter demographic in the 6th district. Costello formally withdrew his name on March 27.
The 7th district was formerly centered on Delaware County, but the new district consisted of much of the Lehigh Valley. The new 7th district overlapped with much of the former 15th district, which was represented by retired Republican Representative Charlie Dent, who resigned early.
The 8th district was previously centered on Bucks County, but now consists of portions of Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the city of Scranton. The new district overlaps with much of the former 17th district, which was represented by Democratic Representative Matt Cartwright. Cartwright had held office since 2013.
The old 9th district was in South Central Pennsylvania, but the new 9th district is in east central Pennsylvania. The new district overlaps with the old 11th district, which was represented by retiring Republican Representative Lou Barletta.
The 10th district was previously in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but it now overlaps with much of the former 4th district in South Central Pennsylvania. Under the map released in 2018, the 10th district includes Harrisburg and a portion of York County. The incumbent from the 4th district was Republican Scott Perry, who had represented his district since 2013. He was re-elected to a third term with 66% of the vote in 2016. Several Democrats sought to challenge Perry in 2018, with George Scott, a 20-year Army veteran and Lutheran pastor, receiving the party's nomination.
The old 11th district was in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but the district now overlaps with much of the former 16th district in South Central Pennsylvania. The new district consists of Lancaster County and portions of York County. The incumbent from the former 16th district was Republican Lloyd Smucker, who had held office since 2017.
Christina Hartman, a former nonprofit executive who lost against Smucker in 16th had filed for a rematch; however, following the court-ordered redrawing, she considered switching to run in the more competitive 10th before withdrawing from the race altogether.
Meteorologist Drew Anderson planned to run without party affiliation and expected to be listed that way on the November ballot. However, he failed to file papers in time, and was not in the race.