New congressional districts bring change for Pittsburgh-area voters, candidates

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court released its map of the state’s congressional districts on Wednesday, and it spells changes for Pittsburgh-area voters and candidates.

Pennsylvania lost a congressional district and will now have 17.

Allegheny County’s two remaining districts include ones now known as the 17th Congressional District, which includes Beaver County and many suburbs north and west of Pittsburgh; and the 12th Congressional District, which includes Pittsburgh, many suburbs east and south of the city in Allegheny County and several communities in western Westmoreland County.

The 17th District, largely resembling the district that has been represented by outgoing U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, sheds its Cranberry section and adds in precincts in Wilkinsburg, Edgewood, Churchill, Braddock Hills, Forest Hills, and some in Swissvale.

The new 12th District is similar to the district that has been represented by retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, in that it includes Pittsburgh and many eastern and southern suburbs, but it now includes Westmoreland County communities such as Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Sewickley Township, Jeannette and parts of Hempfield.

The new boundaries mean some people who have announced plans to run for Congress no longer live in the districts they wanted to represent. Several of them told the Tribune-Review they aren’t changing their plans. Congressional candidates are not required to live in the districts they represent; they just have to live within the state in which they are running.

Partisan changes

Ben Forstate, a local election data expert who has worked on Democratic political campaigns in the region, said the 12th and 17th districts are shifting in different directions.

With the addition of the Westmoreland County municipalities, the 12th District is moving to the right as far as voter registration, but will still have a sizable Democratic advantage.

Forstate said the district’s Allegheny County communities voted for Joe Biden by about a 30 percentage point margin, while the Westmoreland County communities being added voted for Trump by about the same margin. More voters live in the Allegheny County section, keeping the district solidly Democratic, he said.

North Huntingdon ???? Squirrel Hill https://t.co/SWT7FEbJHu

— Ben Forstate (@4st8) February 23, 2022

The 17th District is shifting to the left, adding heavily liberal precincts in Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Edgewood and others.

In 2020, district voters supported Biden, 51% to 48%, Forstate said. Had the new boundaries been in place in 2020, Biden would have collected 52% of votes cast, he said.

In addition to moving slightly to the left, the district also picks up more people of color.

“(The 17th District) added a lot more liberal voters, and a lot more minority voters,” Forstate said, noting that Wilkinsburg is one of the only Black-majority municipalities in the county.

Forstate said the 17th will remain a swing district and is very much in reach for Republicans.

Redistricting affects some candidates

Several candidates for Allegheny County’s congressional seats announced their candidacies before the district maps were finalized. Now with the congressional maps finalized, some candidates found themselves drawn out of the districts they hoped to represent.

Several of the candidates say they intend to seek the same seats. Congressional candidates are not required to live within their boundaries of the districts they represent; they just have to live within the state.

Summer Lee and Bhavini Patel announced plans to run for the seat that has been held for years by Doyle. The redrawn district no longer include Patel’s home in Edgewood or Lee’s home in Swissvale.

Lee, who currently serves as a state representative, said the new map splits her voting precinct, leaving her home just over the boundary in the new 17th District. She said she remains strongly tied to the 12th District as her childhood homes in North Braddock and Rankin remain in that district.

“It is a shame, but not a surprise, that my home and the communities I currently represent were divided — down to the precinct I live in,” Lee said. “If there is one takeaway from this and every campaign I’ve been in, it is that we know there are barriers to Black women and people who build people-powered campaigns, but our movements are strong enough to win.”

Patel’s campaign manager Tom Duerr said she grew up and spent most of her life in Monroeville, within the 12th District’s boundaries. She’s now an Edgewood councilwoman and tech entrepreneur.

“Today’s decision does not change our goal. Bhavini will be running to represent the district in which she has spent the majority of her life living in,” Duerr said.

Jerry Dickinson, a Pitt Law professor, said his Swissvale home is in the 12th District where he announced his candidacy. He criticized Lee for continuing her 12th District run while not living in the district.

“Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District is my home. It is where my wife Emily and I live, it is where we are raising our family and it deserves to be represented by someone who has a real stake in its future and lives in this community,” Dickinson said.

In the 17th District, two Democrats who live outside the new boundaries both said they will continue to run for a seat representing the district.

Chris Deluzio is an Iraq War veteran and policy director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security. He lives in Squirrel Hill, which is in the 12th District. His campaign manager Caitlin Handerhan said Deluzio plans to move into the district this year.

“The amount of support we have received has been humbling,” Deluzio said.

Sean Meloy, vice president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, lives in Pittsburgh’s Morningside, also in the 12th District. His campaign manager Stephanie Medina said he plans to continue living in Morningside, but noted Meloy grew up in Hampton in the new 17th District and still has deep ties to the community there.

“I am honored to run in the district I was born and raised in, where I’ve been elected to the State Democratic Committee. My family has a long history here,” Meloy said.