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.
Latest headlines:
- Last big projections of the evening: McClelland secures the treasurer upset
- Republican Jeffrey Olsommer on track to win Pennsylvania's only special election
- Mackenzie projected to win PA-07 and take on Rep. Susan Wild
- DePasquale projected to win the Democratic AG primary
- Stelson projected to win Democratic primary in 10th District
Answer: No idea, but politics?
For kicks, I'll guess D, Kaleigh. If the song is about corruption, Fumo would be a good reference: In 2009, he was convicted of 137 corruption counts for various schemes, defrauding various institutions and obstruction of justice.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538
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
Democratic women to watch
Today, five Democratic women will be up for reelection in the House: Reps. Summer Lee, Susan Wild, Madeleine Dean, Mary Scanlon and Chrissy Houlahan. Of these incumbents, only Lee is facing a challenger. In 2022 Lee, now a member of the progressive group known as The Squad, narrowly defeated Steve Irwin in the Democratic primary despite heavy opposition spending by AIPAC. This year, Lee's challenger is Bhavini Patel, an Indian-American small business owner. As Irena mentioned, Patel has aligned herself as a more moderate, pro-Israel foil to Lee, who's been endorsed by a full slate of progressive groups including the Justice Dems, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Sunrise Movement and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Beyond the Democratic women running as incumbents, a couple running in open primaries for competitive races in November are on the ballot today, too. In the 1st District, Army Apache helicopter pilot Ashley Ehasz is running unopposed to face Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in November. Ehasz lost to Fitzpatrick in 2022 by about 10 percentage points and is backed by the pro-choice organization, EMILY's List.
In the 10th district, two women, Shamaine Daniels and Janelle Stelson, are running in a crowded primary field to face Rep. Scott Perry in November. Daniels lost to Perry in 2022 by less than 10 points. But it is Stelson who may have front-runner status, and has the backing of EMILY's List, today. I'll be watching the 10th to see if Daniels will get a rematch in November, or if support from EMILY's List (and some other key endorsements) gives Stelson the edge.
We'll be updating the table below as we track how each of these women do tonight:
—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor