Pennsylvania primaries 2024: Lee and Fitzpatrick survive, matchups set for November

538 tracked congressional and downballot primary races in the Keystone State.

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.


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Answer: Swiftie reporting

I am a fan of Swift since the "Lover" era, but I haven't listened to much of the new album, yet. That said, given what I know about Matty Healy and his centrality to the album, my guess is B? I know he's got a cover of the "Starting Line." (I am a millennial, after all.)

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


Answer: I have no idea

But is it C? I feel like she'd write a song about her hometown.

—Monica Potts, 538


Answer: I could not be more indifferent about Taylor Swift if I tried

Headline says it all, really.

But for the sake of fun, I'll go ahead and guess B.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538


Question: While we wait for more results, how about a little Pennsylvania 'pop' quiz?

Some of you may know I’m a bit of a Taylor Swift fan. The pop star, who grew up in Pennsylvania before moving to Nashville as a teen to start her career, released a heroic, 31-song double album last week. It’s chock full of references to all kinds of things including, by my count, at least one hat tip to her home state. So for my fellow live bloggers, can you guess which of these Keystone State staples was mentioned in Swift’s lyrics on "The Tortured Poets Department?"

A) The Philadelphia Eagles
B) Pop-punk band The Starting Line
C) West Reading, PA, Taylor’s hometown
D) Former state Sen. Vince Fumo

Kaleigh Rogers, 538


Candidates of color to watch

We'll be keeping an eye on how candidates of color perform in tonight's House primaries. Racial diversity in Congress has steadily grown over the past two decades, with nonwhite representatives skewing heavily Democratic. In today's races, six candidates of color are running in Democratic primaries compared with four Republican hopefuls.

In the Pittsburgh-area 12th District, Democratic Rep. Summer Lee is seeking a second term after winning a fiercely contested primary by less than 1,000 votes in 2022, when she became the first Black woman to be elected to Congress from Pennsylvania. This year, she faces a primary challenge from Bhavini Patel, an Indian-American small business owner and Edgewood Borough Council member. Patel has aligned herself as a more moderate, pro-Israel foil to Lee, a member of The Squad — a group composed entirely of young progressives of color — who was heavily targeted by AIPAC in her first congressional bid.

Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans, another Black incumbent, is facing a primary challenger in Tracey Gordon, former Philadelphia register of wills. The majority Black, deep-blue 3rd District spans much of central and west Philadelphia, where tonight's winner is all but guaranteed to win the seat in November. The scandal-embroiled Gordon is an underdog candidate here, though she has some experience with that: She defeated a 40-year incumbent in the 2019 primary on the way to becoming the city's register of wills, but lost her reelection bid last May.

A six-way Democratic primary in the 10th District includes Harrisburg City Council member Shamaine Daniels and Blake Lynch, a former local radio executive. Daniels was the Democratic nominee in 2022, but was defeated by Republican Rep. Scott Perry, the former chair of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. Whoever wins tonight will face Perry in November.

On the Republican side, attorney Maria Montero is one of three Republicans vying to face 7th District Democratic Rep. Susan Wild in what is anticipated to be a highly competitive general election. Entrepreneur Aaron Bashir, former Army chaplain Alfeia Goodwin and business executive James Hayes are each running unopposed in today's Republican primaries in their districts. All three are assured a spot on the ballot in November, but face long odds against Democratic incumbents in solidly blue districts.

—Irena Li, 538