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Elections in Pennsylvania

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Elections in Pennsylvania elect the five state-level offices, the Pennsylvania General Assembly, including the senate and house of representatives, as well as the state's congressional delegation for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Presidential elections are held every four years in Pennsylvania. Considered a swing state, it is one of the most competitive nationally, with narrow victories that alternate between the parties across all major offices. On the presidential level, the state has voted for the nationwide loser on only 10 occasions (1824, 1884, 1892, 1912, 1916, 1932, 1948, 1968, 2000, and 2004), meaning it has voted for the national winner 83% of the time, as of 2020.

In a 2020 study, Pennsylvania was ranked by the Election Law Journal as the 19th hardest state for citizens to vote in, based on registration and identification requirements, and convenience provisions.{{cite journal |last1=Schraufnagel |first1=Scot |last2=Pomante II |first2=Michael J. |last3=Li |first3=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=15 Dec 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |access-date=14 January 2022|doi-access=free }}

House of Representatives

{{main|Redistricting in Pennsylvania}}

Pennsylvania's congressional delegation is composed of nine Democrats and eight Republicans, since the 2022 elections.

The five most recent House elections:

Presidential elections

{{Main|List of United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania}}

Below is a table of Pennsylvania's majority vote in the last twelve presidential elections, alongside the national electoral college results. On the presidential level, the state has voted for the nationwide loser on only 10 occasions – 1824, 1884, 1892, 1912, 1916, 1932, 1948, 1968, 2000, and 2004 – meaning it has voted for the national winner 83% of the time, as of 2020. Beginning with the 1992 election, the state has leaned Democratic, voting that way in seven of the nine elections from that year, though mostly by margins under 10 points.

class="wikitable"

! colspan=2|Vote in Pennsylvania !! colspan=2|National vote

YearCandidateYearCandidate
1980{{Party shading/Republican}}|Ronald Reagan1980{{Party shading/Republican}}|Ronald Reagan
1984{{Party shading/Republican}}|Ronald Reagan1984{{Party shading/Republican}}|Ronald Reagan
1988{{Party shading/Republican}}|George H. W. Bush1988{{Party shading/Republican}}|George H. W. Bush
1992{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Bill Clinton1992{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Bill Clinton
1996{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Bill Clinton1996{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Bill Clinton
2000{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Al Gore2000{{Party shading/Republican}}|George W. Bush
2004{{Party shading/Democratic}}|John Kerry2004{{Party shading/Republican}}|George W. Bush
2008{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Barack Obama2008{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Barack Obama
2012{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Barack Obama2012{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Barack Obama
2016{{Party shading/Republican}}|Donald Trump2016{{Party shading/Republican}}|Donald Trump
2020{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Joe Biden2020{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Joe Biden
2024{{Party shading/Republican}}|Donald Trump2024{{Party shading/Republican}}|Donald Trump

United States Senate elections

{{Main|List of United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania}}

= Class I Senate elections =

The five most recent elections:

= Class III Senate elections =

The five most recent elections:

Republican Senator Dave McCormick entered office in 2025 after defeating Bob Casey Jr in the 2024 election. Democratic senator John Fetterman entered office in January 2023, succeeding Republican Pat Toomey who retired after two terms.

Gubernatorial elections

{{Main|List of Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections|List of Governors of Pennsylvania}}

class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"

|+ Pennsylvania vote|Gubernatorial election results{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=General Election Results – Pennsylvania|publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|access-date=November 18, 2016 |author=Leip, David}}

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! Year

! Democratic

! Republican

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1950

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 48.3% 1,710,355

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 50.7% 1,796,119

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1954

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 53.7% 1,996,266

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 46.2% 1,717,070

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1958

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 50.8% 2,024,852

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 48.9% 1,948,769

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1962

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 44.3% 1,938,627

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 55.3% 2,424,918

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1966

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 46.1% 1,868,719

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 52.1% 2,110,349

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1970

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 55.2% 2,043,029

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 41.7% 1,542,854

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1974

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 53.7% 1,878,252

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 45.1% 1,578,917

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1978

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 46.4% 1,737,888

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 52.5% 1,996,042

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1982

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 48.1% 1,772,353

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 50.8% 1,872,784

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1986

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 50.4% 1,717,484

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 48.4% 1,638,268

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|1990

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 67.7% 2,065,244

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 32.4% 987,516

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1994

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 39.9% 1,430,099

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 45.4% 1,627,976

{{Party shading/Republican}}|1998

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 31.0% 938,745

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 57.4% 1,736,844

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|2002

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 53.4% 1,913,235

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 44.4% 1,589,408

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|2006

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 60.3% 2,470,517

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 39.6% 1,622,135

{{Party shading/Republican}}|2010

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 45.5% 1,814,788

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 54.5% 2,172,763

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|2014

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 54.9% 1,920,355

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 45.1% 1,575,511

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|2018

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 57.8% 2,850,210

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 40.7% 2,015,266

{{Party shading/Democratic}}|2022

| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 56.5% 3,031,137

| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 41.7% 2,238,477

The ten most recent elections:

Democrats and Republicans have alternated in the governorship of Pennsylvania every eight years from 1950 to 2010.{{cite book|last=Barone|first=Michael|title=The Almanac of American Politics|year=2014|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=9780226105444|page=1398}} This has been referred to as "the cycle",{{cite web|last=Madonna|first=Terry|title=The Eight-Year Cycle - Believe It!|url=http://www.fandm.edu/politics/politically-uncorrected-column/2009-politically-uncorrected/the-eight-year-cycle-believe-it|publisher=Franklin & Marshall College|access-date=January 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201193402/http://www.fandm.edu/politics/politically-uncorrected-column/2009-politically-uncorrected/the-eight-year-cycle-believe-it|archive-date=February 1, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Baer|first=John M.|title=On the Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics|year=2012|publisher=The History Press|location=Charleston|isbn=9781609497156|page=71}} but it was broken with a Democratic Party win in 2014. Pennsylvania has also voted against the party of the sitting president in 19 of the last 21 gubernatorial contests dating back to 1938; Democrats lost 16 of the previous 18 Pennsylvania gubernatorial races with a Democratic president in the White House, a pattern begun in 1860.{{cite web |url=http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2013/08/26/pennsylvania-democrats-hope-to/ |title= Pennsylvania Democrats Hope to Reverse History in 2014 Gubernatorial Race |work=Smart Politics |first=Eric |last=Ostermeier |date= August 26, 2013}}

Pennsylvania General Assembly elections

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Pennsylvania State Senate (the upper house) and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (lower house). Members of the state house serve for 2 year terms, while the term for the state senate is 4 years. There are no limits on the amount of terms that members of the state legislature can serve. Republicans controlled the state House for all but four years from 1995 until 2023, and they have controlled the state Senate uninterrupted since 1993.

=Senate=

The five most recent elections:

=House of Representatives=

The five most recent elections:

See also

References

External links

  • [http://www.dos.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/bureau_of_commissions%2C_elections_and_legislation/12363 Voting and Elections] at the Pennsylvania Department of State official website
  • {{Ballotpedia|Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania}}
  • {{citation |author= Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association |work=Voting & Elections Toolkits |url= https://godort.libguides.com/votingtoolkit/pennsylvania |title= Pennsylvania }}
  • {{citation |work=Vote.org |location=Oakland, CA |url= https://www.vote.org/state/pennsylvania/ |title= Pennsylvania: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links }}
  • {{cite web |title= League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania |url= https://www.palwv.org }} (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
  • {{citation |url=https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2020&s=PA |title= Pennsylvania 2019 & 2020 Elections |work=OpenSecrets |author1= National Institute on Money in Politics |author2=Campaign Finance Institute }}. (Also: [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=1996&s=PA 1995 & 1996], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=1998&s=PA 1997 & 1998], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2000&s=PA 1999 & 2000], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2002&s=PA 2001 & 2002], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2004&s=PA 2003 & 2004], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2006&s=PA 2005 & 2006], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2008&s=PA 2007 & 2008], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2010&s=PA 2009 & 2010], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2012&s=PA 2011 & 2012], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2014&s=PA 2013 & 2014], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2016&s=PA 2015 & 2016], [https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2018&s=PA 2017 & 2018]).
  • Digital Public Library of America. Assorted materials related to [https://dp.la/search?q=Pennsylvania+election* Pennsylvania elections]
  • {{citation |url= https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Pennsylvania|title=Pennsylvania |work=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 |publisher=American Antiquarian Society and Tufts Archival Research Center |location=Massachusetts }}
  • {{citation |title=State Elections Legislation Database |quote= State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020 |url= https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/elections-legislation-database.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |work=Ncsl.org |location=Washington, D.C. }}

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{{Pennsylvania}}

Category:Government of Pennsylvania

Category:Political events in Pennsylvania