Population (2010) 692,866 Cook PVI R+1 | Median income 73,638 | |
 | ||
Current Representative Pat Meehan (R–Drexel Hill) Ethnicity 88.3% White
5.6% Black
3.9% Asian
1.3% Hispanic
.07% Native American
0.1% other | ||
Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district incorporates parts of the Philadelphia suburbs, including most of Delaware County along with portions of Chester County, Montgomery County, Berks County, and Lancaster County. It is currently represented by Republican Pat Meehan in the 115th United States Congress. The district's extreme non-congruity is widely considered to be the result of gerrymandering.
Contents
Geography
The 2013–2023 version of the district contains most of Delaware County outside of the City of Chester and the heavily African American townships and boroughs in the eastern portion of the county. It also contains parts of central Montgomery County, southern portions of Berks County, southern and central portions of Chester County, and a small portion of eastern Lancaster County. The district as it stood in October 2016 was named on NPR's On the Media as an egregious example of gerrymandering; the shape of the district was described as "Goofy kicking Donald Duck; the only point that is essentially contiguous there is Goofy's foot in Donald Duck's rear end. ... However these district lines are the building blocks of democracy, and when they get as perverted and twisted as this, it leads to deeply undemocratic outcomes." The Washington Post listed it as one of the ten most gerrymandered districts in the country.
The 2003–2013 version of the district was located in Southeastern Pennsylvania. It contained the western and northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia. It consisted of the majority of Delaware County (except for the City of Chester and some of the eastern boroughs), a portion of Chester County east of West Chester in the affluent Main Line area, and a portion of southern Montgomery County centered on Upper Merion Township.
Demographics
The district encompasses an area of diverse wealth, ranging from blue collar and working class households in the southeastern portions of Delaware County (mostly around in the oil refinery areas of Marcus Hook and Trainer) to the southern and western portions of the affluent Main Line area of Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. The district is the home of several major colleges and universities, including Haverford College; Villanova University; Penn State Brandywine; Delaware County Community College; Eastern University; and Cheyney University, the first traditionally black college in the U.S. The district is also the home of Boeing's helicopter facility in Ridley Park. Chester, the only city in Delaware County, is split between the 7th district and 1st Congressional District, but is mostly in the 1st district.
1791–1793: One seat
District created in 1791 from the at-large district
District redistricted in 1793 to the at-large district
1795–1823: One seat
District created in 1795 from the at-large district