32 Facts About Brendan Boyle

Brendan Francis Boyle was born on February 6,1977 and 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.

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

Brendan Boyle's father, Francis, 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.

Brendan Boyle 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.

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

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

Brendan 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.

Brendan Boyle fought cuts to public K-12 and higher education funding, and supported greater investment in infrastructure, voting in 2013 for legislation 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.

Brendan Boyle 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.

Brendan 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.

Brendan Boyle 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.

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

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

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

In 2020, Brendan Boyle won a fourth term, defeating Republican nominee David Torres.

In 2024, Brendan Boyle won a sixth term, defeating Republican nominee Aaron Bashir.

Brendan Boyle has supported legislation to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $12 and measures to revise the way Social Security benefits are calculated to keep them from being reduced over time.

Brendan Boyle noted that Mondelez's CEO had received a pay increase.

Brendan Boyle filed the Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act in 2018.

Brendan Boyle was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Joe Biden for president in 2020, doing so the day Biden declared his candidacy.

Brendan Boyle was selected as one of 17 speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

On immigration, Brendan Boyle was one of 36 Democrats to vote in favor of the POLICE Act of 2023, which would make assaulting a first responder a deportable offense.

Brendan Boyle voted in favor of making Social Security fraud or identification fraud grounds for inadmissibility and deportation.

Brendan Boyle joined the majority of House Democrats in opposing the Laken Riley Act, a bill to require immigration authorities to detain migrants suspected of burglary and theft.

Brendan Boyle was one of 74 Democrats who voted to classify fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I controlled substance.

Brendan Boyle voted to provide support to Israel during the Gaza war.

Brendan Boyle voted in favor of three military aid package supplementals for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan respectively in April 2024, along with most Democrats.

On July 20,2024, Brendan Boyle called on US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign in the wake of an assassination attempt against former President Trump, making him the first Congressional Democrat to do so.

In November 2024, Brendan Boyle praised the possible return of Robert Lighthizer as United States Trade Representative, who served as Donald Trump's appointee during his first presidential term.

In 2025, Brendan Boyle was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

Brendan Boyle is known for his dedication to social justice, and was honored by the left-wing Catholic Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in April 2023 for his voting record.

Brendan Boyle's religion comes from his working-class Irish-American family; he was described as an Irish-Catholic Democrat who "married his economic populism with the defense and foreign policy preferences of an old-school Democrat".