U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, Bradford Woods, R-4th District, said Friday she plans to introduce herself to Mercer County voters soon.

State lawmakers passed legislation Thursday dividing the county between two congressional districts for the first time in the modern political era. The bill now goes to Gov. Mark Schweiker for signing.

Under the plan, most of the county would remain in its traditional home in the state's northwest district, which is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie.

The southwest corner of the county -- including Farrell, Wheatland, West Middlesex, Shenango Township and a small portion of Hermitage known as the Southwest 3 voting precinct -- would be at the northern tip of a district that stretches south into Allegheny County.

Hart, a 39-year-old freshman congresswoman from northern Allegheny County, plans to seek re-election this year in a district that would include all of Lawrence and Beaver counties and parts of Butler, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Mercer counties.

Some local leaders have expressed concern that the southwest part of the county could be ignored by a congressional representative from the Pittsburgh area.

"I intend to represent the entire district," Ms. Hart said.

"I would argue that, because it is a new part of the district, I will make a special effort to get to know it," Ms. Hart said.

And, she added, "I'm not that far away from Mercer County. Congressman English was not any closer to the area than I am."

Shortly after state lawmakers passed their redistricting legislation Thursday, Hart said she and her staff began discussing the 4th District's new political turf in Mercer County.

"We talked about taking a trip there in the near future," Ms. Hart said.

She also said the possibility of establishing a district office in Mercer County was discussed -- but the office could not be opened unless she was re-elected. She currently has an office in New Castle.

"Obviously, we would want to make it as convenient as possible for constituents," added Brendan Benner, Ms. Hart's Washington press secretary.

Hart became the first Republican to represent the 4th District in a quarter-century and the first woman in the state's congressional delegation in six years when she was elected by more than 40,000 votes in 2000. She was elected in a district that was about 58 percent Democratic.

Ms. Hart, a lawyer, serves on the Financial Services, Judiciary and Science committees and is vice chair of the Constitution and Energy subcommittees in Washington.

Some consider her a rising star in the GOP.

"She's probably made more of a mark legislatively" than any other freshman, House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensebrenner Jr. of Wisconsin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"The sky's the limit for her," U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Ohio told the Post-Gazette.

Prior to her run for Congress, Ms. Hart served for 10 years in the state Senate, where she was chairman of the Finance Committee. Ms. Hart was re-elected twice with nearly 70 percent of the vote in a Democratic-leaning district.

While the new district lines figure to make the 4th District more Republican, Benner disagreed with state House Minority Whip Michael Veon's assertion that the new district would have a slight Republican registration edge of 52 percent.

"It would still be a Democratic majority," Benner said.

Ms. Hart and Benner said they have not yet received official demographic information on the new district.

The part of Mercer County to be included in the 4th District contains about 13,000 people, making it about the size of Aliquippa in Beaver County.

The area is overwhelmingly Democratic -- more than 70 percent of its 8,912 registered voters are Democrats, while less than a quarter are Republicans.

The partisan breakdown of the rest of Mercer County, which would remain in the state's northwest district, is not as lopsided. Of its more than 65,000 registered voters, 46 percent are Democrats and 44 percent are Republicans.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Tom Fontaine at

tfontaine@sharon-herald.com