Indiana's 8th congressional district

"IN-8" redirects here. For the state road, see Indiana State Road 8.
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

Cities of 10,000 or more people

(2007 Estimate)

5,000 - 10,000 people

(2007 Estimate)

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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District Election (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

Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 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

2003 - 2013
Indiana congressional districts before and after the most recent redistricting

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
  2. ↑ "And They're Off And Running!". U.S. News & World Report. January 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
  3. ↑ Dirk Johnson, "The 2000 Campaign: An Indiana Race; Conservatives Face Off in Quirky Populist District", New York Times, October 10, 2000
  4. ↑ "Democrats pick up key House seat in Indiana". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

External links

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