- Lead
- 14,603
- Total
- 22,327
- vs nation
- D+66.9
Pennsylvania 197th State House District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 18,033
- Total
- 23,623
- vs nation
- D+71.9
- Lead
- 23,233
- Total
- 25,733
- vs nation
- D+88.2
- Lead
- 23,475
- Total
- 25,597
- vs nation
- D+87.9
- Lead
- 23,728
- Total
- 25,974
- vs nation
- D+84.1
- Lead
- 21,371
- Total
- 23,861
- vs nation
- D+92.0
- Lead
- 17,631
- Total
- 20,098
- vs nation
- D+87.2
- Lead
- 16,274
- Total
- 18,726
- vs nation
- D+78.4
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+65.4MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 61,9892024 5-year
- Population density
- 19,372 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 3.2 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $42,0612024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 6.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 28.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 62.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+91.7 in 2012MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+18.2 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- State House District 180, PA · twin score 98.3
presidential history
Party record book
Pennsylvania 197th State House District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 (partial returns from 1876) · 38 presidential cycles · 38 with a vote-share denominator · 34 with a national benchmark
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2012
95.8%
24,527 votes · D+91.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 95.6%
Republican
Calvin Coolidge1924
52.8%
3,462 votes · R+18.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 · 50.9%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
27,963votes
92.2% of the vote · D+84.4 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · John F. Kennedy, 1960 · 25,945 votes
Republican
Thomas E. Dewey1948
4,420votes
19.2% of the vote · D+59.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Herbert Hoover, 1928 · 4,356 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Walter Mondale1984
+96.0pts D vs U.S.
Place D+77.8 · U.S. R+18.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · John Kerry, 2004 · +92.0 pts
Republican
Calvin Coolidge1924
−7.0pts R vs U.S.
Place R+18.2 · U.S. R+25.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 · −13.6 pts
Current officeholders
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row is a county-allocated estimate of U.S. House votes for this district — county returns apportioned onto its boundary, not precinct-counted. “Vote lead” is the estimated local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
With a 2024 presidential margin of D+65.3, this Philadelphia-area district ranks among the most one-sided state house seats in Pennsylvania, reflecting a dense, heavily Democratic urban electorate.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 91.7 points in 2012 and a Republican high of 18.2 points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 10.9 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 65.4 points.
A population of 61,989, a 7% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $42,061 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State House District 180 and State House District 179.
The state-house districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
District research tools
Open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report → · Browse all comparisons →
Pennsylvania 197th State House District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-lower/42197/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.