Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey
Pennsylvania election preview, 2024
Election Analysis Hub, 2024 |
Election analysis |
---|
Top 15 elections to watch Municipal partisanship Uncontested elections Competitiveness reports: Congress State executives State legislatures |
Elections coverage |
Election results, 2024 Election previews Congressional elections State government trifectas State legislatures State executives Governors Municipal elections Mayoral elections |
Previews by state |
Last updated: October 6, 2024
Thousands of general elections are taking place across the United States on November 5, 2024. Those elections include offices at the federal, state, and local levels. This is one of 50 pages in which Ballotpedia previews the elections happening in each state as part of the Daily Brew’s 50 states in 25 days series.
This page provides an overview of all elections happening in Pennsylvania within our coverage scope on November 5, 2024. Those elections include offices for one U.S. Senator, 17 U.S. Representatives, 203 state Representatives, 25 state Senators, one attorney general, one auditor, and one treasurer. On this page, you will also find information regarding:
- How to vote in Pennsylvania
- The elected offices that Pennsylvania voters can expect to see on their ballots
- The races in Pennsylvania that Ballotpedia is covering as battlegrounds
- The ballot measures that voters in Pennsylvania will decide on
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
- The partisan balance of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation and state government
- Past presidential election results in Pennsylvania
- The competitiveness of legislative elections in Pennsylvania
- The candidates who are on the ballot in Pennsylvania
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania
What's on the ballot?
2024 elections
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2024
Pennsylvania voters will elect one U.S. Senator and 17 U.S. Representatives. There are no open congressional offices in Pennsylvania.
There are three state executive offices up for election: attorney general, auditor, and treasurer. All three offices are contested.
All 203 seats in the state House and 25 of 50 seats in the state Senate are up for election. There are 13 open seats in the state House and three in the Senate.
Below is a list of Pennsylvania elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2024. Click the links to learn more about each type:
Pennsylvania elections, 2024 | ||
---|---|---|
Office | Elections? | More information |
U.S. Senate | ✓ | Click here |
U.S. House | ✓ | Click here |
Congress special election | — | — |
Governor | — | — |
Other state executive | ✓ | Click here |
State Senate | ✓ | Click here |
State House | ✓ | Click here |
Special state legislative | ✓ | Click here |
State Supreme Court | — | — |
Intermediate appellate courts | — | — |
School boards | — | — |
Municipal government | — | — |
Recalls | — | — |
Ballot measures | — | — |
Local ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
Legend: ✓ election(s) / — no elections
Subject to Ballotpedia's scope
Your ballot
- See also: Sample Ballot Lookup
Noteworthy elections
As of October 6, 2024, Ballotpedia has identified 10 elections as battleground races. Those are the races that we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.
- United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2024: Incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D), David McCormick (R), and five other candidates are running. According to the AP's Marc Levy, "McCormick’s candidacy is shaping up as the strongest challenge to Casey in his three reelection bids...The Senate candidates will share a ticket with candidates for president in a state that is critical to whether Democrats can maintain control of the White House and the Senate."[1]
- Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Susan Wild (D) and Ryan Mackenzie (R) are running. Both parties are targeting the district, which media outlets call a Pennsylvania bellwether.[2]
- Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Matt Cartwright (D) and Rob Bresnahan Jr. (R) are running. WVIA’s Borys Krawczeniuk said, “The 8th Congressional District race is expected to be one of the most expensive and hotly contested in the country. Cartwright has won his last three elections by narrower margins each time in a district that twice voted for Donald Trump for president."[3]
- Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Scott Perry (R) and Janelle Stelson (D) are running. The Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz wrote, "While most Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 results represent safe red districts, Perry’s district is more of a bellwether."[4]
- Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District election, 2024: Incumbent Chris Deluzio (D), Rob Mercuri (R), and Clayton Cuteri (American Congress Party) are running. The National Republican Congressional Committee is supporting Mercuri and targeting the district as part of a national list of "seats currently held by vulnerable House Democrats that represent prime pick-up opportunities for Republicans."[5] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is supporting Deluzio and included the district in its Frontlines program that focuses on vulnerable Democratic districts.[6]
- Pennsylvania Attorney General election, 2024: Eugene DePasquale (D), Dave Sunday (R), and four other candidates are running. Pennsylvania has a divided government where neither party holds triplex control. Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor and attorney general and a Republican secretary of state.
- Pennsylvania Auditor election, 2024: Incumbent Timothy DeFoor (R), Malcolm Kenyatta (D), and three other candidates are running.
- Pennsylvania Treasurer election, 2024: Incumbent Stacy Garrity (R) and Erin McClelland (D) are running.
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2024: As of October 6, 2024, Democrats controlled the House 102-101. Muhlenberg College professor Chris Borick said, "Given a one-seat difference, you can truly say ‘every seat matters’ and have it not be a cliché."[7]
- Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2024: As of October 6, 2024, Republicans controlled the Senate 28-22. Spotlight PA's Stephen Caruso said, "Political observers expect these races to draw big money and national interest ... If Democrats flip the upper chamber and hold onto the state House, the party will control the governor's mansion and the legislature in 2025, a so-called 'trifecta' that would pave the way for lawmakers to pass a far-reaching agenda over Republican objections."[8]
Ballot measures
- See also: Pennsylvania 2024 ballot measures
There are no statewide ballot measures on the ballot in Pennsylvania.
Sixty-nine statewide ballot measures were on the ballot in Pennsylvania from 1968 to 2021. Voters approved 62 measures and defeated seven.
State analysis
Partisan balance
Democrats represent both U.S. Senate seats and nine of 17 districts in Pennsylvania's U.S. House delegation. Republicans hold the remaining eight districts. In the U.S. House, Republicans have a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.
Republicans have a 28-22 majority in the state Senate and Democrats have a 102-101 majority in the state House.
Past presidential election results in Pennsylvania
How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:
County-level voting pattern categories | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | |||||||
Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
Solid Democratic | D | D | D | ||||
Trending Democratic | R | D | D | ||||
Battleground Democratic | D | R | D | ||||
New Democratic | R | R | D | ||||
Republican | |||||||
Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
Solid Republican | R | R | R | ||||
Trending Republican | D | R | R | ||||
Battleground Republican | R | D | R | ||||
New Republican | D | D | R |
Following the 2020 presidential election, 47.2% of Pennsylvanians lived in one of the state's 10 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 41.7% lived in one of 53 Solid Republican counties. Overall, Pennsylvania was Battleground Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Pennsylvania following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.
Pennsylvania county-level statistics, 2020 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solid Democratic | 10 | 47.2% | |||||
Solid Republican | 53 | 41.7% | |||||
Battleground Democratic | 2 | 4.5% | |||||
Trending Democratic | 1 | 4.1% | |||||
Trending Republican | 1 | 2.5% | |||||
Total voted Democratic | 13 | 55.8% | |||||
Total voted Republican | 54 | 44.2% |
State legislative competitiveness
According to Ballotpedia's annual state legislative competitiveness report, Pennsylvania had a Competitiveness Index of 23.8, ranking it 38th of the 44 states that held elections.
- 16 of the 228 seats up for election were open (7%).
- 21 of the 212 incumbents who ran for re-election faced contested primaries (10%).
- 124 of the 228 seats up for election were contested by both major parties (54%).
2010-2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.
State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Pennsylvania, 2010-2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | Rank | |||||||||||||||||||
2010 | 9.2% | 14.0% | 59.2% | 27.5 | 32 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2012 | 11.0% | 15.8% | 51.8% | 26.2 | 38 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 11.8% | 20.7% | 44.3% | 25.6 | 30 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2016 | 8.3% | 13.4% | 51.3% | 24.3 | 35 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2018 | 14.0% | 11.2% | 61.0% | 28.7 | 32 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 8.3% | 13.4% | 64.9% | 28.9 | 32 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2022 | 18.0% | 22.1% | 56.1% | 32.1 | 30 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
2024 | 7.0% | 9.9% | 54.4% | 23.8 | 38 / 44 |
In 2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents. Click on headings for more state-specific information.
State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Pennsylvania, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chamber | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | ||||||||||||||||||||
House | 6.4% | 11.1% | 52.7% | 23.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Senate | 12.0% | 0.0% | 68.0% | 26.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 7.0% | 9.9% | 54.4% | 23.8 |
List of candidates
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Associated Press, "Casey and McCormick to face each other as nominees in Pennsylvania’s high-stakes US Senate contest," April 23, 2024
- ↑ CNN,"Northampton County, a bellwether in Pennsylvania, will be place to watch on Election Night," September 27, 2022
- ↑ WVIA, “U.S. House majority leader campaigns for Republican congressional candidate,” April 8, 2024
- ↑ Washington Post, "Pennsylvania race previews Democrats’ plan to focus campaign on democracy," April 22, 2024
- ↑ NRCC, "NRCC Announces 37 Offensive Pick-Up Opportunities to Grow GOP House Majority," March 13, 2023
- ↑ DCCC, "2024 Frontline Members," accessed June 21, 2024
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "In the battle for control of the Pa. House this November, some races stand out," October 6, 2024
- ↑ Spotlight PA, "Pa. election 2024: The state Senate races to watch as Democrats seek the majority," February 19, 2024