Will PA's 5th Congressional District Stay Blue Or Shift Red?

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District could shift to Republican control on Nov. 3.

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon won the seat in a special election when it was the 7th district in 2018 and when Pat Meehan resigned amid a sexual harassment case in 2018.

But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court redrew the district map after ruling the previous map unconstitutional due to partisan gerrymandering, making the 7th district the 5th district, covering all of Delaware County, some of lower Montgomery County, and South Philadelphia.

Scanlon has cosponsored more than 400 bills during her time in congress.

Her website touts her work to preserve about 4,000 jobs at the Boeing Plant in Ridley by restoring funding for a program in the National Defense Authorization Act. She also helped secure a $650 million contract to produce new ships at the Philadelphia Shipyard, according to her website.

Scanlon has also worked at easing student loan debt, preventing violence against women, gun violence prevention, and lowering prescription drug costs.

Scanlon's tenure is in question though as she faces Republican challenger Dasha Pruett.

Pruett is Russian native who immigrated to the United States when she was 10 years old.

She is running on a classic Republican platform and decries socialism, a common rallying point for the current Republican Party.

"She is a refreshing contrast to leftist Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon who has failed to look after our community’s needs, instead pursuing impeachment," Pruett's Facebook page reads.

Pruett says she will "bring our American values and our community concerns back to this office."

"These concerns have been neglected since our current congresswoman took office and will remain so until she is voted out," her website reads.

Federal Elections Commission data shows as of June 20 Scanlon has raised $1,035,919.08 and Pruett has raised $18,923.50.

Scanlon in 2018 handily defeated Republican Pearl Kim, earning 65.2 percent of the vote to Kim's 34.8. With those numbers in mind Scanlon could be in for an easy race, but Pruett's stances on policing, immigration, and term limits, and the Second Amendment during turbulent times in the nation could give Scanlon a tough fight.