Mike Doyle (American politician)
Michael F. Doyle Jr. (born August 5, 1953) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district, serving from 1995 to 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district was based in Pittsburgh and included most of Allegheny County.
Mike Doyle
Summer Lee (redistricting)
18th district (1995–2003)
14th district (2003–2019)
18th district (2019–2022)
August 5, 1953
Swissvale, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Susan Doyle
4
A native of Swissvale and graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Doyle previously served as a member of the Swissvale Borough Council (1977–1981) and an aide to Republican State Senator Frank Pecora (1979–1994). He was first elected to Congress in 1994. Doyle announced that he would retire from Congress in 2022.[1][2]
Early life, education and career[edit]
Doyle was born in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, to Michael F. and Rosemarie Fusco Doyle.[3] He graduated from Swissvale Area High School in 1971, and then enrolled at Pennsylvania State University. He worked in steel mills during his summers in college, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in community development in 1975.
After college, Doyle worked as executive director of Turtle Creek Valley Citizens Union (1977–1979) and was elected to the Swissvale Borough Council in 1977. In 1979, he began work as chief of staff to Pennsylvania State Senator Frank Pecora. Like Pecora, Doyle was once a Republican who later switched parties to become a Democrat. In addition to his work for Pecora, he joined Eastgate Insurance Company as an insurance agent in 1982.
U.S. House of Representatives[edit]
Elections[edit]
In 1994, Doyle was elected to Congress as a Democrat from the state's 18th district, which at the time was in Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs. The incumbent Republican, Rick Santorum, was elected to the United States Senate. Doyle won by almost 10 points, in one of the few bright spots in a bad year for Democrats. He was reelected three times with no substantial opposition.
In 2002, the Pennsylvania state legislature reconfigured Doyle's district, combining it with the Pittsburgh-based district of fellow Democrat William J. Coyne. In the process, the state legislature redrew most of western Pennsylvania's heavily Democratic areas into just two districts—the reconfigured 14th district and the 12th district of John Murtha. The potentially explosive situation of having two Democratic incumbents face each other in the primary was defused when Coyne announced his retirement (even though the district contained more of Coyne's former territory than Doyle's), leaving Doyle as the sole incumbent. The new district was by far the most Democratic district in western Pennsylvania, and Doyle was completely unopposed in 2002 and 2004; in 2006 and 2008, his only opposition was Green Party candidate Titus North.[4][5]
Personal life[edit]
Doyle is Roman Catholic.[40]