2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania


The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 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 other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections, including the Governor of Pennsylvania and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. This was the highest Republican turnout in modern elections.

Overview

District

Results of the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania by district:

District 1

The 1st district includes central and South Philadelphia, the City of Chester, the Philadelphia International Airport and other small sections of Delaware County. The incumbent was Democrat Bob Brady, who had represented the district since 1998. He was re-elected with 85% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+28.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Megan Rath, medical-equipment saleswoman

District 2

The 2nd district includes parts of West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia and Northwest Philadelphia in addition to Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County. The incumbent was Democrat Chaka Fattah, who had represented the district since 1995. He was re-elected with 89% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+38.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Armond James, schoolteacher

District 3

The 3rd district is located in Northwestern Pennsylvania and includes the cities of Erie, Sharon, Hermitage, Butler and Meadville. The incumbent was Republican Mike Kelly, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+8.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Dan LaVallee, former deputy director in the America's Health Insurance Plans's product policy department
    Withdrawn
  • Rob Joswiak, Air Force veteran
  • Matt Ryan, veteran

District 4

The 4th district is located in South Central Pennsylvania and includes all of Adams and York counties and parts of Cumberland County. The incumbent was Republican Scott Perry, who had represented the district since 2013. He was elected with 60% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+9.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 5

The 5th district, the state's largest and most sparsely populated, is located in North Central Pennsylvania and includes 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. The incumbent was Republican Glenn Thompson, who had represented the district since 2009. He was re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+8.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Kerith Strano Taylor, family law attorney
    Eliminated in primary
  • Thomas Tarantella, U.S. Army veteran
    Declined
  • Jay Paterno, former assistant football coach at Penn State and the son of former head coach Joe Paterno

District 6

The 6th district includes communities north and west of the City of Philadelphia. The incumbent was Republican Jim Gerlach, who had represented the district since 2003. He was re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+2. Gerlach was retiring.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Despite landing their top recruit in businessman and West Point graduate Mike Parrish, national Democrats were left disappointed when he quit the race on 18 March, stating, "I have come to realize that an expensive and contentious Democratic primary fight would seriously risk our party's ability to win this seat in November to accomplish our goals". He had previously received criticism for only switching party affiliation to Democrat in late 2013, having been a registered Republican all his adult life.

Candidates

Nominee

District 7

The 7th district is located in the Philadelphia suburbs, including most of Delaware County along with portions of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. The incumbent was Republican Pat Meehan, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 59% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+2.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 8

The 8th district is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania and includes Bucks County, along with portions of Montgomery County. 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 57% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+1.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 9

The 9th district is located in South Central Pennsylvania and includes Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Somerset, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. The incumbent was Republican Bill Shuster, who had represented the district since 2001. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+10.

Republican primary

Shuster, the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, anticipated a primary challenge from Republicans unhappy with his support for earmarks that bring costly projects to the district.

Candidates

Nominee
  • Bill Shuster, incumbent U.S. Representative
    Eliminated in primary
  • Art Halvorson, businessman and Coast Guard veteran
  • Travis Schooley, businessman and disqualified candidate for this seat in 2012

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 10

The 10th district is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and includes Monroe, Pike, Lackawanna, Wayne, Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Sullivan, Lycoming, Union, Columbia, Snyder, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry counties. The incumbent was Republican Tom Marino, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 66% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+12.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Scott Brion, businessman and energy industry executive
    Withdrawn
  • Adam Rodriguez, former carpenter

Independents

Nick Troiano, a James Madison Fellow with the non-profit Millennial Action Project, was run as an Independent.

District 11

The 11th district is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and includes Wyoming, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Northumberland, Dauphin, Perry and Cumberland counties. The incumbent was Republican Lou Barletta, who had represented the district since 2011. He was re-elected with 59% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+6.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 12

The 12th district is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania and includes all of Beaver County and parts of Allegheny, Cambria, Lawrence, Somerset and Westmoreland counties. The incumbent was Republican Keith Rothfus, who had represented the district since 2013. He was elected with 52% of the vote in 2012, defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Critz. The district has a PVI of R+9.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Erin McClelland, psychologist and businesswoman
    Eliminated in primary
  • John Hugya, former Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative John Murtha
    Declined
  • Mark Critz, former U.S. Representative

District 13

The 13th district is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, covering eastern Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. The incumbent was Democrat Allyson Schwartz, who had represented the district since 2005. She was re-elected with 69% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+13.
Schwartz did not run for re-election. She instead ran for Governor of Pennsylvania.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Carson "Dee" Adcock, businessman and nominee for this seat in 2010
    Eliminated in primary
  • Beverly Plosa-Bowser, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel
    Withdrawn
  • John Fritz, businessman and Northeast Philadelphia Republican Party Committeeman
  • Clay McQueen, security consultant and systems specialist
  • Everett Stern, businessman and whistleblower
    Declined
  • Marina Kats, attorney and nominee for this seat in 2008
  • Joshua Quinter, attorney

District 14

The 14th district includes the entire city of Pittsburgh and parts of surrounding suburbs. 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 77% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+15.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Michael F. Doyle, incumbent U.S. Representative
    Eliminated in primary
  • Janis C. Brooks, pastor, CEO/founder of Citizens to Abolish Domestic Apartheid and candidate for this seat in 2012

Republican primary

Ken Peoples, the chairman of the White Oak Republican Committee, had declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination, but was removed from the ballot for collecting insufficient ballot petition signatures. He subsequently ran a write-in campaign for the Republican nomination in the State House's 35th Legislative District. Bob Howard, a former candidate for Allegheny County Controller in 2011, ran a write-in campaign for the Republican nomination. Howard would need 1,000 certified write-in votes to be nominated. At least 1,498 Republican write-in votes were recorded in the district, but certifying them would take several weeks.

District 15

The 15th district is located in Eastern Pennsylvania and includes Lehigh County and parts of Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon and Northampton counties. The incumbent was Republican Charlie Dent, who had represented the district since 2005. He was re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+2.
Dent was unopposed in the Republican primary and did not face a Democratic opponent in the general election, as none filed before the deadline.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined
  • David A. Clarke
  • Rick Daugherty, chairman of the Lehigh County Democratic Party and nominee for this seat in 2012

District 16

The 16th district is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia and includes a large portion of southern Chester County, most of Lancaster County and a sliver of Berks County, including the city of Reading. The incumbent was Republican Joe Pitts, who had represented the district since 1997. He was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+4.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Tom Houghton, former state representative
    Eliminated in primary
  • Raja Kittappa, stem cell researcher

District 17

The 17th district is located in Eastern Pennsylvania and includes Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe, Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. The incumbent was Democrat Matt Cartwright, who had represented the district since 2013. He was elected in 2012, defeating incumbent Democrat Tim Holden in the primary with 57% of the vote and winning the general election with 60% of the vote. The district has a PVI of D+4.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 18

The 18th district is located in the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh and includes parts of Allegheny, Washington, Beaver and Westmoreland counties. The incumbent was Republican Timothy F. Murphy, who had represented the district since 2003. He was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+10.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Murphy did not face a Democratic opponent in the general election as none filed before the deadline.