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Jay Costa

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Jay Costa
Democratic Party
Pennsylvania State Senate District 43
Tenure
1996 - Present
Term ends
2028
Years in position
29
Compensation
Base salary
$110,015.54/year
Per diem
$198/day
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Education
Associates
Community College of Allegheny County, 1977
Associates
Community College of Allegheny County
Bachelor's
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1979
Bachelor's
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Law
Duquesne Law School
Law
Duquesne University School of Law, 1989
Personal
Birthplace
Pittsburgh, PA
Religion
Catholic
Profession
Senator
Contact
Official website
Official Facebook
Official X
Official Instagram
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign X
Campaign Instagram
Personal LinkedIn

Jay Costa (Democratic Party) is a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing District 43. He assumed office on May 13, 1996. His current term ends on November 30, 2028.

Costa (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Pennsylvania State Senate to represent District 43. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Costa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Costa has served as state Senate minority leader since 2011.[1]

Biography

Jay Costa was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Costa earned his A.A. degree from the Community College of Allegheny County in 1977, his bachelor's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1989. His professional experience includes working as an attorney and deputy sheriff for Allegheny County. Costa worked in county government as the Register of Wills of Allegheny County from 1992 to 1996.[2]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Costa was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Costa was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Costa was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Costa was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Pennsylvania committee assignments, 2017
• Rules & Executive Nominations, Minority chair
• Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness, Minority chair

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Costa served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Costa served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Costa served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Costa served on these committees:

Issues

Pension costs

In January 2014, Costa said that Pennsylvania Senate Democrats were skeptical of making changes to the state's retirement plans for future hires. He also said that any proposed changes for current workers and retirees "would be a deal-breaker." Costa stated that he was skeptical that pension costs would reduce other expenditures of the state budget. State Senate Democrats supported measures to increase state revenue through closing tax loopholes, adding taxes to gas drilling companies, and accepting federal dollars from the expansion of Medicaid.[3]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43

Incumbent Jay Costa won election in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jay Costa
Jay Costa (D) Candidate Connection
 
97.4
 
116,722
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.6
 
3,130

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Total votes: 119,852
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43

Incumbent Jay Costa advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 on April 23, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jay Costa
Jay Costa Candidate Connection
 
98.9
 
41,496
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.1
 
474

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 41,970
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Costa's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Costa in this election.

2020

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43

Incumbent Jay Costa won election in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jay Costa
Jay Costa (D)
 
100.0
 
117,888

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 117,888
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43

Incumbent Jay Costa defeated Bill Brittain in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jay Costa
Jay Costa
 
76.9
 
42,521
Image of Bill Brittain
Bill Brittain Candidate Connection
 
23.1
 
12,767

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 55,288
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

2016

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on April 26, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016.

Incumbent Jay Costa ran unopposed in the Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 general election.[4][5]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 43, General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Jay Costa Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State


Incumbent Jay Costa ran unopposed in the Pennsylvania State Senate District 43 Democratic primary.[6][7]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 43, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Jay Costa Incumbent (unopposed)



2012

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2012

Costa ran in the 2012 election for Pennsylvania Senate District 43. Costa ran unchallenged in the April 24 primary and was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJay Costa Incumbent 100% 94,779
Total Votes 94,779

2008

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Costa was re-elected to District 43 of the Pennsylvania State Senate.[10]

Costa raised $335,357 for this campaign in which he ran unopposed.[11]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 43
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png COSTA, JAY JR. (D) 101,482

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Jay Costa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Costa's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa was elected to the Senate, and served as the Democratic chair of the powerful Judiciary and Appropriations Committees before being elected Leader of the Caucus in 2010. His Senate career has been highlighted by hundreds of millions in investment to Allegheny County - from roads and bridges, to schools and nonprofit organizations. He led the successful effort to invest $100m in youth mental health services this year, to end ‘lunch shaming’ of students living in poverty, to diversify jury pools and make criminal justice proceedings more accessible by providing interpreters. He was the lead advocate in the resolution of the UPMC/Highmark health care dispute that threatened access to care for thousands of residents. He’s sponsored legislation to raise the minimum wage, prevent gun violence, and protect affordable health care. Costa is the proud product of local educational institutions: Taylor Allderdice High School, Community College of Allegheny County, IUP, and Duquesne School of Law. Costa remains a member of the Pennsylvanian Bar, and is a member of a local law firm.
  • I'm fighting for working families in Harrisburg. Wages have remained low as costs have risen, and our policies do not consider the needs of families - a $7.25 min wage, no paid sick leave, high child care costs, etc. I'm looking out for the bottom line of our middle class.
  • I believe that you should have the right to make your own medical decisions privately. I have never, and will never, stand between a woman and her doctor when it comes to the most intimate, private family planning decisions. Without a federal backstop of abortion rights, state legislatures are more important than ever.
  • We all deserve to live in safe communities, free to go to school, houses of worship, the mall, a concert, without the fear of mass gun violence. Without treading on the 2nd amendment, we can make our state safer - we need red flag laws, comprehensive background checks, requirements to report lost & stolen weapons.
Lowering cost of living for working families, gun violence prevention, health care accessibility, environmental protection.
My dad - he was a dedicated public servant and instilled the value of community service in me.
I don't believe so.
I think that transparency and consistency are critical. My constituents know what they can expect of me, and I am always sharing my work in Harrisburg and in the district.
I believe that I'm a thoughtful leader and very willing to listen to other perspectives on any number of issues.
Using every power of elected office to fight for their constituents - whether it's through grants, constituent services or policymaking.
That I represented my district well, and that my constituents felt their voices were heard and amplified in Harrisburg.
I worked as a bartender in college for a few years in Pittsburgh.
Runaway Jury has always been a favorite. I like a legal thriller when I get the chance to read.
Likely a showtune. I love Broadway radio on Sirius.
I think we should be collaborative but we serve different roles. The Governor can set an agenda, but it really is up to the legislature to write the bills and deliver them to his desk.
I think rising costs and access to high quality public education are critical. Families need to be able to afford the cost of living and send their children to the best public schools we can offer, so that the next generation gets a strong start.
Not always, but I do believe that being deeply familiar with your community is helpful.
Yes - we can accomplish so much together, particularly when we band together regionally for greater
I have great respect for Senator Bob Casey, and the way he has remained true to his roots and values throughout every office he's held.
No, I'm very happy where I am in the Senate.
Not in all cases, that is a specific power granted to the executive.
I've introduced many bills that I'm very proud of, but in recent sessions I have continually introduced package of hate crime bills that would address, particularly in my district, anti Semitism.
Climate Cabinet, Planned Parenthood, Building Trades, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers
The Judiciary Committee has always held interest for me as an attorney, and I served as Appropriations Chair before as well. The allocation of state resources is so critical.
Government is spending your money, you deserve to know where it goes.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Jay Costa did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Jay Costa campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Pennsylvania State Senate District 43Won general$3,857,526 $3,949,634
2020Pennsylvania State Senate District 43Won general$2,353,234 N/A**
2016Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43Won $3,446,593 N/A**
2012Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43Won $1,376,388 N/A**
2008Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43Won $335,357 N/A**
2004Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43Won $130,714 N/A**
2000Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43Won $117,829 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in Pennsylvania

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2025.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2024.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2023.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2014.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2013.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2012.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2011.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Costa and his wife, Roxanne, have three children. They reside in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania.

See also

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External links

Candidate

Pennsylvania State Senate District 43
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    Officeholder

    Pennsylvania State Senate District 43
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Pennsylvania State Senate, "Jay Costa," accessed January 3, 2023
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 20, 2024
    3. ↑ WatchDog.org, "PA Senate prez: Do away with ‘obsolete, unsustainable’ pensions or face difficult budget cuts," January 9, 2014
    4. ↑ Pennsylvania Voter Services, "Candidate listing," accessed August 31, 2016
    5. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "November 8, 2016, official election results," accessed May 17, 2017
    6. ↑ Pennsylvania Secretary of State, "Election Information," accessed February 18, 2016
    7. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2016 Presidential Primary," accessed August 2, 2016
    8. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2012 General Primary," accessed March 11, 2014
    9. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2012 General Election," accessed March 11, 2014
    10. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2008 General Election," accessed March 11, 2014
    11. ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributors," accessed May 15, 2014

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		Pennsylvania State Senate District 43
    1996-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


    Current members of the Pennsylvania State Senate
    Leadership
    Majority Leader:Joe Pittman
    Minority Leader:Jay Costa
    Senators
    District 1
    District 2
    District 3
    District 4
    District 5
    District 6
    District 7
    District 8
    District 9
    John Kane (D)
    District 10
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    District 13
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    District 15
    Patty Kim (D)
    District 16
    District 17
    District 18
    District 19
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    District 23
    Gene Yaw (R)
    District 24
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    Cris Dush (R)
    District 26
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    District 32
    District 33
    District 34
    District 35
    District 36
    District 37
    District 38
    District 39
    Kim Ward (R)
    District 40
    District 41
    District 42
    District 43
    Jay Costa (D)
    District 44
    District 45
    District 46
    District 47
    District 48
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    District 50
    Republican Party (27)
    Democratic Party (23)


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