1796 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in Pennsylvania on October 11, 1796, for the 5th Congress.

Background
Thirteen Representatives (9 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) had been elected in 1794. One Representative, Daniel Hiester (DR) of the PA's 5th congressional district resigned on July 1, 1796. His seat was vacant at the time of the 1796 election, and was filled in a special election held at the same time.

Congressional districts
Pennsylvania was divided into 12 districts, one of which (the PA's 4th congressional district) was a plural district, with 2 Representatives. These districts remained in use until redistricting after the census of 1800.
 * The PA's 1st congressional district consisted of the City of Philadelphia
 * The PA's 2nd congressional district consisted of Philadelphia County
 * The PA's 3rd congressional district consisted of Chester and Delaware Counties
 * The PA's 4th congressional district (2 seats) consisted of Montgomery, Bucks and Northampton Counties
 * The PA's 5th congressional district consisted of Berks and Luzerne County
 * The PA's 6th congressional district consisted of Northumberland and Dauphin Counties
 * The PA's 7th congressional district consisted of Lancaster County
 * The PA's 8th congressional district consisted of York County
 * The PA's 9th congressional district consisted of Mifflin and Cumberland County
 * The PA's 10th congressional district consisted of Bedford, Huntingdon and Franklin Counties
 * The PA's 11th congressional district consisted of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties
 * The PA's 12th congressional district consisted of Allegheny and Washington Counties

The counties that made up the 5th district did not border each other. That district was therefore made up of two separate pieces rather than being a single contiguous entity

Note: Many of these counties covered much larger areas than they do today, having since been divided into numerous counties

Election results
11 incumbents (7 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) ran for re-election. Frederick Muhlenberg (DR) of the PA's 2nd congressional district did not run for re-election. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 9 (5 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) were re-elected. Overall, 7 Democratic-Republicans and 6 Federalists were elected, a net gain of 2 seats for the Federalists.

Special Elections
George Ege (F) of the PA's 5th congressional district resigned in October, 1797 and was replaced in a special election held October 10, 1797

With Hiester's election, the Democratic-Republicans gained 1 seat, increasing their majority to 8-5

John Swanwick (DR) of the PA's 1st congressional district died on August 1, 1798, and Samuel Sitgreaves (F) of the PA's 4th congressional district resigned on August 29, 1798. Special elections were held in those districts on October 9, 1798, the same day as the elections to the 6th Congress.

Both also won election to the 6th Congress. The 1st district changed from Democratic-Republican to Federalist while the 4th district changed from Federalist to Democratic-Republican, leaving no net change in seats for the remainder of the 5th Congress.