Boyle's Congressional Hold In Philly Under GOP Threat Again

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is a stronghold for Democrats, but a Republican is looking to change the political tides in the Northeast Philadelphia area.

Rep. Brendan Boyle was elected to the 2nd Congressional District in 2018 and took the seat in 2019.

The district used to be the 13th Congressional District, but it was shifted to the 2nd when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the existing congressional district map was unconstitutional based on partisan gerrymandering.

Before representing the 2nd district, Boyle represented the 13th district after being elected in 2014.

While the district — which also includes Bridesburg, Port Richmond, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Kensington, Juniata, Olney, Logan, Feltonville and North Philadelphia — has been much like the rest of the city as a near shoo-in for Democrats, it could have a member of the GOP representing them in Washington.

Boyle is being challenged by Republican David Torres for the second time.

Boyle won his 2018 election with 79.02 percent of the vote, with Torres receiving just 20.98 percent.

When taking the 2018 results into account, it appears as though Torres has a tough fight in store on Nov. 3.

Torres doesn't have much political experience when compared to Boyle, who served in Harrisburg representing the 170th district, but he has some in addition to his failed 2018 campaign.

He served as the Republican Party’s ward leader for Philadelphia’s 19th Ward, according to Temple News.

Torres is campaigning on reducing crime and combatting the opioid epidemic. Torres's son Eddie died from opioid abuse in 2017, the Northeast Times reports.

Torres also supports a $15 minimum wage.

He, like many members of the GOP, accuses Democrats and Boyle of being socialists and radical leftists while making a pitch for a sort of "return to normalcy."

"Your current Congressman wants no parts of fixing problems and stands with the radical left on everything," Torres said on Facebook recently. "I promise you I will put my district above politics and fight for you the people because that is what I was elected to do."

Should Torres win, he would be the first Latino to represent Philadelphia in congress, according to his campaign.

Boyle's time in Washington has included voting to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024, co-sponsoring legislation named after Gorge Floyd that includes restricting the amount of military equipment given to local police forces and limiting the application of qualified immunity, as well as support for Medicare For All and the Green New Deal.

According to GovTrack.us, Boyle missed 143 of 3,454 (4.1 percent) roll call votes from January 2015 to October 2020. The 4.1 missed voted is worse than the median of 2.3 percent among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving, according to the website.