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Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

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Pennsylvania State Senate District 28
Incumbent
Assumed office: December 1, 2018

Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 is represented by Kristin Phillips-Hill (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Pennsylvania state senators represented an average of 260,237 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 254,698 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the Pennsylvania State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Pennsylvania legislators assume office on the first day of December after a general election.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article II of the Pennsylvania Constitution states:[2]

Senators shall be at least 25 years of age and Representatives 21 years of age. They shall have been citizens and inhabitants of the State four years, and inhabitants of their respective districts one year next before their election (unless absent on the public business of the United States or of this State), and shall reside in their respective districts during their terms of service.[3]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[4]
SalaryPer diem
$106,422.33/year$185/day

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election. There are no deadlines set in the state constitution on when a special election can be held.[5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Pennsylvania Cons. Art. II, §2


District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Pennsylvania after the 2020 census

On February 4, 2022, the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 4-1 to approve new state House and Senate maps.[6] House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R) voted no, while Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R), state Rep. Joanna McClinton (D), state Sen. Jay Costa (D), and chairman Mark Nordenberg voted yes.[6] These maps took effect for Pennsylvania's 2022 legislative elections.

How does redistricting in Pennsylvania work? In Pennsylvania, the statutory authority to draw congressional district boundaries is vested with the Pennsylvania General Assembly. These lines are subject to gubernatorial veto.[7]

State legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission. Established in 1968, the commission comprises five members:[7]

  1. The majority leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate appoints one member.
  2. The minority leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate appoints one member.
  3. The majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appoints one member.
  4. The minority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appoints one member.
  5. The first four commissioners appoint a fifth member to serve as the commission's chair. If the commission is unable to reach an agreement, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court must appoint a commission chair.[7]


The Pennsylvania Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and compact. Further, state legislative districts should "respect county, city, incorporated town, borough, township and ward boundaries." There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[7]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 28
until November 30, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Pennsylvania State Senate District 28
starting December 1, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2022

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Incumbent Kristin Phillips-Hill defeated Judith McCormick Higgins in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Phillips-Hill
Kristin Phillips-Hill (R)
 
66.9
 
75,419
Image of Judith McCormick Higgins
Judith McCormick Higgins (D) Candidate Connection
 
33.1
 
37,316

Total votes: 112,735
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Judith McCormick Higgins advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Judith McCormick Higgins
Judith McCormick Higgins Candidate Connection
 
99.3
 
15,142
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
113

Total votes: 15,255
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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Incumbent Kristin Phillips-Hill advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Phillips-Hill
Kristin Phillips-Hill
 
99.2
 
35,047
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
283

Total votes: 35,330
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Kristin Phillips-Hill defeated Judith McCormick Higgins in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Phillips-Hill
Kristin Phillips-Hill (R)
 
62.7
 
62,380
Image of Judith McCormick Higgins
Judith McCormick Higgins (D) Candidate Connection
 
37.3
 
37,105

Total votes: 99,485
(100.00% precincts reporting)
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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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Judith McCormick Higgins defeated Shawn Mauck in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Judith McCormick Higgins
Judith McCormick Higgins Candidate Connection
 
57.7
 
5,641
Shawn Mauck
 
42.3
 
4,135

Total votes: 9,776
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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28

Kristin Phillips-Hill defeated Julie Wheeler in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Phillips-Hill
Kristin Phillips-Hill
 
65.4
 
14,294
Image of Julie Wheeler
Julie Wheeler
 
34.6
 
7,556

Total votes: 21,850
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

General election

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in that election was March 11, 2014. Linda E. Small was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbent Scott Wagner defeated Zachary Alexander Rockford Hearn in the Republican primary. Ron Miller (R) withdrew from the race on March 26, 2014. Wagner defeated Small in the general election.[8][9][10][11]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 28 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngScott Wagner Incumbent 64.7% 46,247
     Democratic Linda Small 35.3% 25,205
Total Votes 71,452
Pennsylvania State Senate, District 28 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngScott Wagner Incumbent 84.9% 13,214
Zachary Alexander Rockford Hearn 15.1% 2,349
Total Votes 15,563

Special election

See also: Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2014

Write-in candidate Scott Wagner (R) defeated party-nominated candidates Linda E. Small (D) and Ron Miller (R) in the special election, which took place on March 18, 2014.[12][13][14]

The seat was vacant following Mike Waugh's (R) appointment as the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Farm Show on January 12.

A special election for the position of Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 was called for March 18. Candidates were nominated by their party rather than chosen through a primary[15]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 28, Special Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngScott Wagner (Write-in) 47.7% 10,654
     Republican Ron Miller 26.6% 5,951
     Democratic Linda E. Small 25.7% 5,744
Total Votes 22,349

2010

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Pennsylvania State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 18, 2010, and a general election on November 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 9, 2010. Incumbent Mike Waugh (R) defeated Edward Gately (L) in the general election and was unopposed in the Republican primary.[16][17]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 28, General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngMike Waugh Incumbent 84.4% 62,061
     Libertarian Edward Gately 15.6% 11,499
Total Votes 73,560

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2022, candidates for Pennsylvania State Senate District 28 raised a total of $1,928,546. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $120,534 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Pennsylvania State Senate District 28
Year Amount Candidates Average
2022 $550,478 2 $275,239
2018 $597,781 4 $149,445
2014 $395,737 3 $131,912
2012 $31,895 1 $31,895
2010 $47,010 1 $47,010
2008 $61,345 1 $61,345
2006 $133,130 2 $66,565
2004 $48,503 1 $48,503
2002 $62,668 1 $62,668
Total $1,928,546 16 $120,534


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Pennsylvania Constitution, "Article II, Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021
  2. The Constitution of Pennsylvania, "Article II, Section 5: Qualifications of members," accessed May 23, 2025
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  5. State of Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Constitution," accessed February 15, 2021 (Article II, Section 2)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dr
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 All About Redistricting, "Pennsylvania," accessed May 8, 2015
  8. Pennsylvania Department of State, "Official primary results for May 20, 2014," accessed July 9, 2014
  9. Pennsylvania Secretary of State, "2014 Primary Withdrawals," accessed April 29, 2014
  10. Pennsylvania Department of State, "2014 Official Candidate Listing," accessed March 19, 2014
  11. Pennsylvania Department of State, "2014 General Election," accessed December 5, 2014
  12. Pennsylvania Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 3, 2014
  13. ydr.com, "Wagner apparent winner in special state Senate election," March 19, 2014
  14. Pennsylvania Secretary of State, "Official special election results," accessed August 29, 2014
  15. philly.com, "Lt. Gov calls special election to fill vacant Senate seat," January 13, 2014
  16. "Pennsylvania Secretary of State - Official General Election Results," accessed November 4, 2013
  17. "Pennsylvania Secretary of State - Official Primary Election Results," accessed November 4, 2013


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
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
Patty Kim (D)
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
Gene Yaw (R)
District 24
District 25
Cris Dush (R)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
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
District 49
District 50
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (23)