New Congressional Districts
In January of 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court deemed the previous Congressional district lines unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor the Republican Party, and the district lines were redrawn. During the 2018 PA midterm elections, many Pennsylvanians voted in new districts, including those in Newtown Square, which has switched to the new fifth district from the old seventh district, which was described by The New York Times as what “might have been the most gerrymandered district in the nation.”
After these past midterms, Pennsylvania now has eight Democrat and ten Republican representatives. Out of the twenty PA members of Congress, four representatives are women. Two of those female representatives are Mary Gay Scanlon and Chrissy Houlahan from Districts 5 and 6, which are both in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Sen. Robert “Bob” Casey Jr. (D-PA)
Having served since 2007, Sen.Bob Casey is the Democrat elect senior senator. Senator Casey prides himself as being an advocate for children, building the economy, creating jobs and infrastructure, and national security. He serves on four senate committees including Finance; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and the Special Committee on Aging. Sen. Casey has helped to pass the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act which obligates colleges to to have clear sexual assault policies as well as having “uniform reporting standards”. Despite his party ties, Bob Casey holds pro-life views. However, his voting record in Congress suggests otherwise; he only votes in favor of pro-life legislation about 20% of the time, according to Politico. He urges his colleagues to work to reform the immigration system. “My Republican colleagues and President Trump seem to think that the best way to deal with immigration is to just deport everyone. That’s unworkable, and they know it. So let’s stop playing political games and get to work.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon – 5th District (D-PA)
Mary Gay Scanlon served the state of Pennsylvania as a civil rights lawyer for thirty-five years before making her transition into politics this past election. She has also served as Vice President and President of the Wallingford-Swarthmore school board. Throughout her career, she has been an advocate for the rights of women and children, using her position on the school board to advocate for the protection of women’s sports teams’ Title IX equal opportunity rights. Her goal is to support female politicians, in order to “build a pipeline of strong women candidates for years to come,” according to her official website. She also believes in reforming the criminal justice system, stating that “the focus of our criminal justice system should be rehabilitative.” She also supports “legislation that provides pathways to education, job training and placement, and mental health programs.” Scanlon believes strongly in combatting climate change and wants the USA to rejoin the Paris Accord. She pushes for government relief in areas like Flint, MI, and Puerto Rico.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Sen. Pat Toomey serves as the junior elect Republican U.S. senator. He joined the Senate in 2011 after serving in the House of Representatives for six years as representative of Pennsylvania’s 15th district. Sen. Toomey believes in, “a platform of economic and job growth, restoring fiscal responsibility, and creating stronger, safer communities.” He introduced the Start-up Jobs and Innovation Act to allow small businesses to grow by allowing them to deduct double the amount of money for start up expenses. Toomey also fights for the flexibility of children’s education. He voted for the Every Child Achieves Act which allows the opening of new charter schools and for existing charter schools to have more freedom in spending their federal funds. In Congress, Toomey pushes for gun reform while still respecting the Second Amendment. He actively works to push legislation that would require background checks for sales at gun shows and over the Internet. Toomey wants to reform the legal immigration process to better allow highly-skilled immigrants to come to the country. He is an ardent opponent of sanctuary cities, arguing that they are unsafe for Americans.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan – 6th District (D-PA)
Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional district will welcome Chrissy Houlahan who is succeeding former Congressman Ryan Costello who did not seek reelection. After obtaining her engineering degree, she taught chemistry in North Philadelphia, before serving as a Captain in the United States Air Force for three years active and thirteen years inactive duty. Within the community, Houlahan has served as the President and Chief Operating Office for Springboard Collaborative which is a Philadelphia based non-profit aiming to increase the literacy of young children in underprivileged communities. She is prioritizes the future, stating, “We need to stand up and speak out against actions that threaten our core beliefs and priorities. We owe this to our children and to future generations so that they may realize their potential and change the world for the better.” Rep. Houlahan’s priorities include economic growth, better education, and the support of veterans and their families. She supports common-sense gun reform, as well as allowing the CDC to research gun violence. “I cannot understand how the gun lobby has persuaded Congress to ban the CDC from pursuing this basic research.”