Indiana's 8th congressional district
Indiana's 8th congressional district | ||
---|---|---|
Indiana's 8th congressional district - since January 3, 2013. | ||
Current Representative | Larry Bucshon (R–Newburgh) | |
Area | 7,041.64 mi2 (18,237.85 km2) | |
Distribution | 58.10% urban, 41.90% rural | |
Population (2000) | 675,564 | |
Median income | $36,732 | |
Ethnicity | 94.2% White, 3.7% Black, 0.6% Asian, 0.9% Hispanic, 0.2% Native American, 0.3% other | |
Cook PVI | R+8[1] |
Indiana's 8th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based in Southwest and west central Indiana, the district is anchored in Evansville and also includes Jasper, Princeton, Terre Haute, Vincennes and Washington.
Commonly referred to as "The Bloody Eighth" at the local (and sometimes national) levels (See below for explanation), it was formerly a notorious swing district.
Counties located in Indiana's 8th Congressional District
As of 2013.
# County |
# County |
# County |
# County |
# County | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 Clay Brazil 26,556 |
13* Crawford English 10,713 |
14 Daviess Washington 30,726 |
19 Dubois Jasper 41,889 |
26 Gibson Princeton 39,750 | |
28 Greene Bloomfield 33,750 |
42 Knox Vincennes 38,920 |
51 Martin Shoals 10,370 |
60 Owen Spencer 21,790 |
61 Parke Rockville 17,250 | |
62 Perry Tell City 19,332 |
63 Pike Petersburg 12,845 |
65 Posey Mt. Vernon 27,500 |
67 Putnam Greencastle 10,100 |
74 Spencer Rockport 20,952 |
77 Sullivan Sullivan 21,750 |
82 Vanderburgh Evansville 191,220 |
83 Vermillion Newport 16,790 |
84 Vigo Terre Haute 105,900 |
87 Warrick Boonville 59,700 |
- 13 Crawford County exists in both the 8th and 9th Congressional Districts. Within Crawford County, two whole townships; Boone, and Johnson exist in the 8th District, while two other townships; Patoka, and Union, are partitioned by Indiana State Road 145 and Interstate 64 respectively.
Cities of 10,000 or more people
(2007 Estimate)
- Greencastle - Estimated around 10,100
- Jasper - 12,550
- Washington - 11,700
- Vincennes - 21,500
- Terre Haute - 53,100
- Evansville - 131,500
5,000 - 10,000 people
(2007 Estimate)
- Fort Branch - 5,015
- Newburgh - 5,475
- North Terre Haute - 5,025
- Clinton - 5,128
- Sullivan - 5,000
- Boonville - 6,125
- Linton - 5,770
- Mt. Vernon - 7,478
- Brazil - 8,041
History
Based in Evansville, the 8th Congressional District was widened when Indiana lost a seat after the 2000 U.S. Census to include much of the former 5th and 7th Congressional Districts. At that time, Bloomington (the home of former U.S. Representative Frank McCloskey) was moved into the 9th Congressional District, while the 8th Congressional District was extended northward to include much of the former 7th Congressional District in west-central Indiana, including Terre Haute. As a result of this expansion, the district is the largest in area in Indiana with all or part of 18 counties.
The district has been nicknamed "The Bloody Eighth" because of a series of hard-fought campaigns and political reversals. Unlike most other districts in the state, which frequently give their representatives long tenures in Washington, the 8th Congressional District has a reputation for frequently ousting its incumbents.[2] Voters in the district ousted six incumbents from 1966 to 1982. The election in 1984 was so close that it was decided in the House of Representatives. Although Southern Indiana is ancestrally Democratic, the Democrats in this area are nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in the rest of the state; most of them are Blue Dogs. The district also has a strong tint of social conservatism.
In 2000, a New York Times reporter said of the district: "With a populist streak and a conservative bent, this district does not cotton to country club Republicans or to social-engineering liberals," and also said, "More than 95 percent white and about 41 percent rural, the region shares much of the flavor of the Bible Belt."[3]
The district was previously represented by Brad Ellsworth, a moderate Democrat. As a result of Ellsworth's landslide defeat of 12-year incumbent John Hostettler, it was the first district picked up by the Democrats on Election Night 2006.[4] Ellsworth ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2010 and was succeeded by Republican Larry Bucshon in the same election cycle.
In 2013, the district shifted away from Northern Indiana and more towards Evansville, losing Fountain and Warren Counties, and gaining Dubois, Perry, and Spencer Counties, and a portion of Crawford County, uniting southwestern Indiana under one district.
List of representatives
Representative | Party | Years | Electoral history |
---|---|---|---|
District created | March 4, 1843 | ||
John Pettit | Democratic | March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1849 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Joseph E. McDonald | Democratic | March 4, 1849 – March 4, 1851 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Daniel Mace | Democratic | March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1855 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Opposition | March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857 | ||
James Wilson | Republican | March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Albert S. White | Republican | March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Godlove S. Orth | Republican | March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1869 |
Redistricted to the 7th district. |
James N. Tyner | Republican | March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1875 |
First elected to the term left vacant by the death of Representative-elect Daniel D. Pratt. |
Morton C. Hunter | Republican | March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1879 |
Redistricted from the 6th district. |
Abraham J. Hostetler | Democratic | March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1881 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Robert B. F. Peirce | Republican | March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1883 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
John E. Lamb | Democratic | March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
James T. Johnston | Republican | March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Elijah V. Brookshire | Democratic | March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1895 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
George W. Faris | Republican | March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897 |
Redistricted to the 5th district. |
Charles L. Henry | Republican | March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899 |
Redistricted from the 7th district. |
George W. Cromer | Republican | March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1907 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
John A. M. Adair | Democratic | March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1917 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Albert H. Vestal | Republican | March 4, 1917 – April 1, 1932 |
Died. |
Vacant | April 1, 1932 – March 4, 1933 | ||
John W. Boehne, Jr. | Democratic | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943 |
Redistricted from the 1st district. |
Charles M. La Follette | Republican | January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
E. A. Mitchell | Republican | January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Winfield K. Denton | Democratic | January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
D. Bailey Merrill | Republican | January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Winfield K. Denton | Democratic | January 3, 1955 – December 30, 1966 |
Resigned. |
Vacant | December 30, 1966 – January 3, 1967 | ||
Roger H. Zion | Republican | January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1975 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Philip H. Hayes | Democratic | January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
David L. Cornwell | Democratic | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
H. Joel Deckard | Republican | January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1983 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Frank McCloskey | Democratic | January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985 |
[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] |
Vacant | January 3, 1985 – May 1, 1985 |
Election contested and the House of Representatives refused to seat anyone. | |
Frank McCloskey | Democratic | May 1, 1985 – January 3, 1995 |
Final recount won by McCloskey, in disputed election. |
John Hostettler | Republican | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007 |
Lost Re-Election |
Brad Ellsworth | Democratic | January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
Retired to run for U.S. Senate |
Larry Bucshon | Republican | January 3, 2011 – Present |
First elected in 2010. |
Election Results
2002
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John Hostettler* | 98,952 | 51.31 | |
Democratic | Bryan Hartke | 88,763 | 46.02 | |
Libertarian | Pam Williams | 5,150 | 2.67 | |
Total votes | 192,865 | 100.00 | ||
Voter turnout | % | |||
Republican hold | ||||
2004
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John Hostettler* | 145,576 | 53.37 | |
Democratic | Jon P. Jennings | 121,522 | 44.55 | |
Libertarian | Mark Garvin | 5,680 | 2.08 | |
Total votes | 272,778 | 100.00 | ||
Voter turnout | % | |||
Republican hold | ||||
2006
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brad Ellsworth | 131,019 | 61.02 | |||
Republican | John Hostettler* | 83,704 | 38.98 | |||
Total votes | 214,723 | 100.00 | ||||
Voter turnout | % | |||||
Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
2008
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brad Ellsworth* | 189,109 | 64.75 | |
Republican | Greg Goode | 102,940 | 35.25 | |
Total votes | 292,049 | 100.00 | ||
Voter turnout | % | |||
Democratic hold | ||||
2010
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Larry Bucshon | 117,259 | 57.55 | |||
Democratic | Trent Van Haaften | 76,265 | 37.43 | |||
Libertarian | John Cunningham | 10,240 | 5.03 | |||
Total votes | 203,764 | 100.00 | ||||
Voter turnout | % | |||||
Republican gain from Democratic | ||||||
2012
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Larry Bucshon* | 151,533 | 53.36 | |
Democratic | Dave Crooks | 122,325 | 43.07 | |
Libertarian | Bart Gadau | 10,134 | 3.57 | |
Total votes | 283,992 | 100.00 | ||
Voter turnout | % | |||
Republican hold | ||||
2014
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Larry Bucshon (Incumbent) | 103,344 | 60.32 | |
Democratic | Tom Spangler | 61,384 | 35.83 | |
Libertarian | Andrew Horning | 6,587 | 3.84 | |
Total votes | 171,315 | 100 | ||
Republican hold | ||||
Living former Members
As of May 2015, four former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 8th congressional district are alive.
Representative | Term of office | Date of birth (and age) |
---|---|---|
Roger H. Zion | 1967–1975 | September 17, 1921 |
Philip H. Hayes | 1975–1977 | September 1, 1940 |
John Hostettler | 1995–2007 | June 19, 1961 |
Brad Ellsworth | 2007-2011 | September 11, 1958 |
Historical district boundaries
See also
References
- ↑ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
- ↑ "And They're Off And Running!". U.S. News & World Report. January 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
- ↑ Dirk Johnson, "The 2000 Campaign: An Indiana Race; Conservatives Face Off in Quirky Populist District", New York Times, October 10, 2000
- ↑ "Democrats pick up key House seat in Indiana". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
External links
- Congressman Larry Bucshon Official House Site