Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: February 13, 2024
	Primary: April 23, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Pennsylvania
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th ; Pennsylvania elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Pennsylvania 2024 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Attorney General • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Local ballot measures • How to run for office

All U.S. House districts, including the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, held elections in 2024. The general election was November 5, 2024. The primary was April 23, 2024. The filing deadline was February 13, 2024. The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[1] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[2] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 56.2%-43.8%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 59.4%-39.5%.^[3]

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Incumbent Summer Lee defeated James Hayes in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Summer Lee (D)	56.2	234,802
	James Hayes (R)	43.5	181,426
	Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,280

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 417,508
= 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 U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

Incumbent Summer Lee defeated Bhavini Patel in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on April 23, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Summer Lee	60.4	64,594
	Bhavini Patel	39.2	41,902
	Other/Write-in votes	0.4	415

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 106,911
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Laurie MacDonald (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12

James Hayes defeated Paul Bryant in the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 on April 23, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	James Hayes	98.5	34,759
	Paul Bryant (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Other/Write-in votes	1.5	543

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 35,302
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Laurie MacDonald (R)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Summer Lee

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House of Representatives, District 12 (Assumed office: 2023)
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 34 (2018-2022)

Biography: Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Pennsylvania State University in 2009 and a J.D. from Howard University in 2015. She worked as a field organizer for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in 2016.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Lee said the country is facing an issue of voter suppression and that fixing it includes “working to end racist voter ID and suppression laws, restoring the full power of the Voting Rights Act, and ending gerrymandering.” She also said, “I’m working to make it easier to vote, not harder—and that means federal automatic voter registration, nationwide early and mail voting, federal holidays for election days, and same day voter registration.”

Lee said that “our economy works for the wealthy few and corporations at the expense of the working poor.” She said she has advocated for legislation “that supports a livable wage and aims to close the unnecessary gap between skyrocketing corporate profits and working people’s poverty wages” and has fought for the right to unionize.

Lee said pollution is a daily problem for Pennsylvania and that “CEOs get wealthy while the people of Western Pennsylvania—particularly in our Black and brown communities—experience higher rates of asthma, cancer and other diseases.” She also said she “fought tirelessly for a Green New Deal to transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy” during her time in Congress.

Lee said that “the way public schools are funded is deeply inequitable, leaving behind working-class communities and communities of color.” She said she has fought for universal free pre-kindergarten, free school meals, and expanding teacher-training programs. She also said “the massive burden of student debt is not only keeping us from being able to afford even the basics, starting families, opening up small businesses, and building generational wealth – but it’s hurting our entire economy.”

Show sources

Sources: Summer Lee campaign website, "Issues," accessed March 5, 2024; Summer Lee campaign website, "About," accessed March 5, 2024; Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives, "Summer Lee," accessed March 5, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 in 2024.

James Hayes

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "James Hayes is a successful businessman and economist. He knows that the government is here to serve the people -- not the other way around. After attending Georgetown University, he went on to earn advanced degrees in economics, finance and accounting and business administration from Princeton, the University of Chicago and Case Western, respectively. In addition to his experience in industry and finance, Dr. Hayes also spent six years working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He will support ending the overregulation that is costing our region valuable jobs and causing industry to flee. James supports our law enforcement and will work to ensure they have the tools they need to keep our communities safe. He supports American values and fair treatment for all Americans regardless of race, religion or national origin. He supports Israel and its right to defend itself, opposes excessive government spending and will work to restore balance, accountability and civility to our government."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

We must support industries that create jobs and economic vitality while remaining faithful stewards of the environment.

Public safety is paramount to the success of any viable community and it must be vigorously safeguarded.

Children should not be condemned to a poor education because of their zip code and we must implement school choice to provide the incentives to improve outcomes across the educational spectrum.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 12 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Pennsylvania

Election information in Pennsylvania: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Oct. 21, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 21, 2024
Online: Oct. 21, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Oct. 29, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 29, 2024
Online: Oct. 29, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to Oct. 29, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (EST)

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

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.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/JamesHayes2023.jpeg

James Hayes (R)

We must support industries that create jobs and economic vitality while remaining faithful stewards of the environment.

Public safety is paramount to the success of any viable community and it must be vigorously safeguarded.

Children should not be condemned to a poor education because of their zip code and we must implement school choice to provide the incentives to improve outcomes across the educational spectrum.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

James Hayes (R)

Economic growth and energy independence

Border security Access to quality education Public safety and support of law enforcement

Development programs and activity for young people

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

James Hayes (R)

Great power competition with China

Achieving energy independence again Restoring pride in American values Creating jobs and a vibrant economy

Ensuring a strong legacy for future generations

What are your thoughts on term limits?

James Hayes (R)

I have signed the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge of the U.S. Term Limits organization.

Campaign finance

Name

Party

Receipts*

Disbursements**

Cash on hand

Date

Summer Lee

Democratic Party

$2,959,031

$1,971,819

$1,011,579

As of December 31, 2024

James Hayes

Republican Party

$136,245

$135,559

$686

As of December 31, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[4]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Pennsylvania in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Pennsylvania, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Pennsylvania	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	1,000	$150.00	2/13/2024	Source
Pennsylvania	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	2% of votes cast in the district in the last election	$150.00	8/1/2024	Source

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	17	17	0	45	34	4	2	17.6%	3	17.6%
2022	17	17	2	48	34	5	6	32.4%	2	13.3%
2020	18	18	0	51	36	6	5	30.6%	2	11.1%
2018	18	18	7	84	36	13	8	58.3%	6	54.5%
2016	18	18	2	44	36	4	5	25.0%	4	25.0%
2014	18	18	2	46	36	6	3	25.0%	2	12.5%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Pennsylvania in 2024. Information below was calculated on April 7, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Forty-five candidates ran for Pennsylvania’s 17 U.S. House districts, including 25 Democrats and 20 Republicans. That’s 2.65 candidates per district, less than in the previous three election cycles. There were 2.82 candidates per district in 2022, 2.83 candidates per district in 2020, and 4.66 in 2018.

No districts were open in 2024, meaning all incumbents ran for re-election.

Seven candidates ran for the 10th Congressional District, the most candidates that ran for a district in 2024. The candidates included Republican incumbent Scott Perry and six Democrats.

Seven primaries—four Democratic and three Republican—were contested in 2024, the fewest this decade.

Three incumbents—two Democrats and one Republican—were in contested primaries. That’s higher than in 2022 and 2020 when two incumbents faced challengers, respectively.

The 3rd Congressional District was guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed to run.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Pennsylvania's 12th the 145th most Democratic district nationally.^[8]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Pennsylvania's 12th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
59.4%	39.5%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[9] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
60.9	36.0	R+24.9

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Pennsylvania, 2020

Pennsylvania presidential election results (1900-2020)

14 Democratic wins
16 Republican wins
1 other win

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	P^[10]	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D

See also: Party control of Pennsylvania state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Pennsylvania
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	1	7	8
Republican	1	10	11
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	17	19

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Pennsylvania's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Pennsylvania, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Josh Shapiro
Lieutenant Governor	Austin Davis
Secretary of State	Al Schmidt
Attorney General	Michelle Henry

State legislature

Pennsylvania State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	22
	Republican Party	28
	Independent	0
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	101
	Republican Party	100
	Other	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		203

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Pennsylvania Party Control: 1992-2024
One year of a Democratic trifecta • Twelve years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.