Pennsylvania is already in the thick of campaign season for November's presidential and U.S. Senate races, but on April 23, Democrats and Republicans in the Keystone State chose their candidates in a slate of other consequential races down the ballot this fall.
Among the key races to watch: a couple of incumbent House members — progressive Democrat Summer Lee and moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick — both fended off challengers from their right, and ballots are now set for a few other consequential contests that could help determine control of the House next year. Plus, some key battle lines for control of the state government in November are set, with the parties finalizing their candidates for attorney general, auditor, treasurer and both chambers of the state legislature.
538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.
Abortion could play a role in Pennsylvania elections this year
Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania, but unlike in some other states, it is not constitutionally protected in the commonwealth. While it's not possible for an abortion-related constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2024 ballot in Pennsylvania, the outcome of the election could still impact abortion access in the state. Like Americans overall, Pennsylvanians are in favor of legal abortion, with 65 percent saying that abortion should be legal in all or most cases in a March GBAO/Fabrizio Lee/Wall Street Journal poll.
If the issue is salient for voters in November, that could be good news for Biden in the state: In the same survey, when asked to compare Biden and Trump on the issue, 46 percent said Biden would be best able to handle abortion, while 32 percent said Trump. Another 15 percent said neither, 3 percent said both would be equally able to handle the issue, and 3 percent were undecided.
Some key General Assembly races in Pennsylvania tonight
In tonight's primaries, voters aren't just deciding on federal candidates for November's general election; they're also setting up the battles for control of the state House and Senate. In 2022, Democrats won the governorship, and they currently hold a one-vote majority in the House they've struggled to maintain through a series of special elections. The party is looking to expand that House majority and gain control of the Senate for a trifecta by targeting opportunities (and defending some vulnerable seats) in the purple areas of this purple state. And, of course, Republicans want to keep their Senate majority, which they've held for 30 years, and take back the House.
Republicans have a six-vote majority in the state Senate, so Democrats need to pick up at least three seats for a tie, which could be broken by Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. Half the chamber is up for election this cycle. Among the handful of key races, Democrats will be defending an Allegheny County seat and challenging Republicans for a Harrisburg-based seat that are both opening up because of retirements. In both districts, each party is holding a contested primary today and redistricting could give Democrats a boost in November. Democrats are also challenging Republican incumbents in two seats that flipped to red in 2016 and 2020; one will hold a competitive Democratic primary today between Erie County Democratic Party Chair Jim Wertz and former Sen. John Fetterman staffer Selena King.
In the House, the hot primary action will largely be on the Democratic side, as the party's more progressive and centrist flanks face off in districts around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In West Philadelphia, Rep. Amen Brown is defending his seat against two challengers, Sajda Blackwell, whose family has a history in area politics, and progressive community activist Cass Green. Brown ran unsuccessfully for mayor on a tough-on-crime stance, and has sided with Republicans in criticizing progressive Philly DA Larry Krasner. Elsewhere in the city, three incumbents endorsed by progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia are facing challengers of their own. And in the Pittsburgh area, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, who stepped into U.S. Rep. Summer Lee's former seat, is facing a challenge from Ashley Comans, a progressive school board member who lost to Salisbury last year and is endorsed by Lee herself.
Tonight's results will have an effect on their party's chances to hold onto the state House majority in November, and also the direction the Democratic party may try to take should it seize a trifecta.
A crowd of Democrats vying to challenge hard-right Republican Scott Perry in Pennsylvania's 10th District
In the Harrisburg-based 10th District, Republican Rep. Scott Perry won reelection by a little less than 8 percentage points in 2022. But he remains a target for Democrats, thanks to the district's potential competitiveness and Perry's reputation as an archconservative. A crowd of six contenders have entered the Democratic primary to earn the right to face Perry in November, and there's some degree of uncertainty about how this primary might play out.
But both Stelson and O'Brien have faced questions about their ties to the district, as Stelson lives just outside it in Lancaster County and O'Brien only recently moved to the area. Stelson has also faced scrutiny for having only recently switched her party registration from Republican to Democrat and for having made a racist joke on air around a decade ago involving Asians eating cats. Whether that's enough to derail her remains to be seen: The only recent poll we've seen was a late February survey for Stelson's campaign by Normington, Petts & Associates that found her leading with 36 percent, followed by Daniels at 16 percent and O'Brien at 9 percent.
Pennsylvania voters split on Senate preferences, while many don't feel strongly
Pennsylvania is one of several critical swing states with a U.S. Senate election this November. While neither party's primary is contested today, we're going to be hearing a lot about this contest, which will help determine who controls the chamber. Unsurprisingly, Pennsylvania voters are fairly evenly divided when it comes to which party they'd rather see in control, but nearly one in five don't seem to see much of a difference. Asked in a CNN/SSRS survey in March whether they thought the nation would be better or worse off if Republicans won control of the chamber, 38 percent of registered voters said they thought it would be better off and 42 percent thought it would be worse off. Nineteen percent said it will not make any difference.