Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district

Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
(Philadelphia outlined in red)
Representative
Distribution
  • 100.00% urban
  • 0.00% rural
Population (2023)713,964
Median household
income		$56,629
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+20[1]

Pennsylvania's second congressional district includes all of Northeast Philadelphia and parts of North Philadelphia east of Broad Street, as well as portions of Philadelphia's River Wards. It has been represented by Democrat Brendan Boyle since 2019.

The district is demographically diverse, with about 39% of residents identifying as white, nearly 27% of residents identifying as Black, 26% identifying as Hispanic or Latino (of any race), and 8% identifying as Asian.[2]

Prior to 2018, the district covered West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, and Northwest Philadelphia, as well as parts of South Philadelphia, Center City, and western suburbs such as Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County. Before the 113th Congress, the district did not contain Lower Merion Township but instead contained Cheltenham Township.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania redrew the district in February 2018 after ruling the previous map unconstitutional due to partisan gerrymandering. The new second district is essentially the successor to the previous first district. As such, it remained heavily Democratic for the 2018 election and representation thereafter. Brendan Boyle, the incumbent from the previous 13th district, ran for re-election in the new 2nd district.[3] Parts of the previous second district were shifted to the third.[4]

Congressman Chaka Fattah represented the district from 1995 to 2016. On July 29, 2015, Fattah and a group of associates were indicted on federal charges related to their alleged roles in a racketeering and influence peddling conspiracy.[5][6] On April 26, 2016, Dwight Evans toppled Fattah in a competitive Democratic primary election.[7] Fattah resigned June 23, 2016.[8] Evans then won a special election to fill Fattah's seat. He also won election for the regular term beginning January 3, 2017. Evans won re-election in the new 3rd congressional district.

  1. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  2. ^ https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd116/cd_based/ST42/CD116_PA02.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ Kopp, John (February 22, 2018). "Brendan Boyle to seek re-election in redrawn Philly congressional district". Philly Voice. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  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. ^ "Congressman Chaka Fattah and Associates Charged with Participating in Racketeering Conspiracy" (Press release). Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  6. ^ "Chaka Fattah indictment, full text - CNNPolitics.com". CNN. July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  7. ^ Orso, Anna (April 26, 2016). "Pennsylvania primary: Dwight Evans topples longtime Congressman Chaka Fattah". Billy Penn. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  8. ^ "Rep. Chaka Fattah resigns after conviction, effective immediately" (Press release). CBS. June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.