Brendan Boyle

His father, Francis (Frank), is an Irish immigrant who came to the United States in 1970 from Glencolmcille, a district of County Donegal, and works as a janitor for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).

His late mother, Eileen, was the child of Irish immigrants from County Sligo; she worked as a Philadelphia School District crossing guard for over 20 years.

Boyle was born and raised in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood.

Brendan Francis Boyle (born February 6, 1977) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing a district in the Philadelphia area since 2015.

Since January 2023, he has served as Ranking Member of United States House Committee on the Budget.

He attended Cardinal Dougherty High School before receiving an academic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999, completing the Hesburgh Program in Public Service.

After working for several years as a consultant with the United States Department of Defense, including Naval Sea Systems Command, he attended graduate school at Harvard Kennedy School, where he earned a Master of Public Policy.

In 2008, Boyle defeated Republican Matthew Taubenberger, son of 2007 mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, by a margin of 15,442 (59.2%) to 10,632 (40.8%), to win the election to succeed George T. Kenney, becoming the first Democrat ever elected to represent the 170th district.

Boyle represented the 170th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015.

Boyle is the elder of two sons.

Boyle was a founding member of the LGBT Equality Caucus during his first term in office, voting in favor of legislation in 2009 prohibiting discrimination of LGBT Pennsylvanians in work, housing and other areas the only time it passed out of committee.

In 2010, Boyle was reelected, defeating Republican Marc Collazzo, 64% to 36%.

Boyle also introduced legislation in 2011 to make genocide education a required part of Pennsylvania public school curricula, legislation that was eventually passed into law in 2014.

In 2012, Boyle ran unopposed and was selected as chair of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus.

He fought cuts to public K-12 and higher education funding, and supported greater investment in infrastructure, voting in 2013 for legislation (passed into law as Act 89) that provided the first comprehensive transportation funding overhaul in Pennsylvania in nearly 20 years, providing several billion dollars in new funds for roads, bridges and mass transit.

He also founded the Eastern Montgomery County-Northeast Philadelphia Legislative Alliance, a group of local and state lawmakers who work across Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County on issues affecting both regions.

In 2013, he introduced legislation to expand access to school counseling services, which resulted in him being selected as recipient of the 2013 Pennsylvania School Counselor Association's "Legislator of the Year" award.

In April 2013, Boyle announced his candidacy for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, which stretched from Montgomery County to northeast Philadelphia.

The incumbent, Allyson Schwartz, gave up the seat to run for governor.

Boyle had the support of nearly 30 labor unions across the Philadelphia region.

Boyle ran against former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, then state Senator Daylin Leach and current Montgomery County Commissioner Valerie Arkoosh for the Democratic nomination.

Despite Margolies entering the race with a 32-point lead over Boyle in early polling, and having the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton, as well as support from former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Congressman and Philadelphia Democratic Chair Bob Brady, Boyle won the primary with 41% of the vote to Margolies's 27%.

But the new 2nd absorbed all of the Philadelphia portion of the old 13th, including Boyle's home.

PoliticsPA rated Boyle's district as not vulnerable (a safe seat).

In 2014, he introduced legislation to amend Pennsylvania's hate crimes statutes to include crimes perpetrated based on sexual orientation.

In 2014, he introduced the SAFER PA Act, which required timely testing of DNA evidence kits and that backlogged and untested evidence be reported to the state.

It would also require that authorities notify victims or surviving family when DNA testing is completed.

Boyle won the general election on November 4, 2014, defeating Republican nominee Carson "Dee" Adcock with 67% of the vote.

He represented the 13th district from 2015 to 2019, serving much of Northeast Philadelphia and most of suburban Montgomery County.

Boyle ran unopposed again in 2014 resigned his seat on January 2, 2015, before being sworn in as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

He was succeeded by Martina White.

As a state lawmaker, Boyle's focus was on greater educational access, healthcare and greater economic equality.

As the first member of his family to attend college, he prioritized greater access to higher education.

During his first term in office, he introduced the REACH Scholarship program, which would offer tuition-free public college for qualifying Pennsylvania students.

The SAFER PA Act was reintroduced and signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in 2015.

No Republican or other party candidate filed to run against Boyle in 2016, so he was reelected unopposed.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania imposed a new map for Pennsylvania's congressional districts in February 2018.

Boyle then announced that he would run for reelection in the new 2nd district.

This district had previously been the 1st district, represented by retiring fellow Democrat Bob Brady.

Since 2019, he has represented the 2nd district, which is entirely within the City of Philadelphia, including all of Northeast Philadelphia and portions of North Philadelphia and Center City Philadelphia, largely east of Broad Street.