The two political parties in Pennsylvania's state legislature and its congressional delegation are nearly evenly divided, and that won't change after next week's primary election results.
But in November, candidates for both parties' April 23 picks for hundreds of Congressional seats will disrupt long-standing policy paralysis in Harrisburg and similar partisan gridlock in Congress. There is a possibility that it will change.
Voters in the state will also cast primary ballots for this year's presidential and U.S. Senate candidates. Democratic incumbents Joe Biden and Bob Casey and Republican challengers Donald Trump and Dave McCormick are competing on the fall ballot.
Both parties will choose candidates for the state attorney general's office, which was held by Republicans before Democrats won on a winning streak that began in 2012.
In two other statewide “column office” contests, Republicans Treasurer Stacey Garrity and Comptroller General Tim DeFoor will figure out which Democrat will try to unseat them in the fall. It turns out.
It took months and several special elections for Democrats to secure their return to the state House majority last year, pushing one Democrat to the speakership of the House, where the partisan split is currently 102-100. It took. One seat is vacant in the Poconos district after a Republican resigned in February, and will be filled in a special primary election.
The full chamber is voting this year, with Republicans hoping to reverse Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro's legislative influence in policy and budget fights.
Democrats need to flip at least three seats to take control of the state Senate, where Republicans hold a 28-22 majority with Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis' tie-breaking vote.
Of the 25 seats up for grabs this year in the Senate, 12 incumbent senators, or nearly half, have no opponents this year.
Senate primaries in both parties are being fought over high-profile vacancies for a Republican-held seat in the Harrisburg area and a Democratic-held seat in Pittsburgh. The third vacancy is in a Republican-majority district in northern York County.
Allegheny County Democratic Rep. Nick Pisciotano, along with two other Democrats and two Republicans, is running for the state Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny County). He left the House of Representatives for this reason.
Rep. Dawn Keefer (R-York) is leaving the House to succeed retiring Sen. Mike Regan (R-York). Another House defector is Rep. Patty Kim of Dauphin County, who will face another Democrat, Sen. John DiSanto (R-Dauphin), for the nomination for the 3rd Senate District seat, which involves his retirement. Two Republicans are also vying to succeed DiSanto.
Mr. DiSanto's seat is widely seen as Senate Democrats' best chance of winning. Their big shot at a majority would likely require defeating Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, and first-term Republican Sen. Devlin Robinson, whose district is west of Pittsburgh.
Sen. Dave Argall (Schuylkill County), who is leading the Republican Senate campaign, said he is working to maintain a majority in the state, which became a battleground after Mr. Brewster's narrow victory four years ago. said it was even more widespread.
“There will be battles across the state, but it's still pretty early to predict which teams will emerge to the top of the list,” Argall said.
The members, who hold nearly half of the 203 seats in the House of Representatives and have slightly more Democrats than Republicans, are unopposed in this year's primary and general elections and can plan for reelection starting in January.
There aren't that many vacancies in the House this cycle, with Republicans holding just nine seats and Democrats holding four. Among the retiring members is Berks County Rep. Mark Rozzi, who early last year saw Democrats pool their votes to elect their front-runner, House Speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia. Before that, he had a brief but notable stint as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Ryan McKenzie (Lehigh County) and Rep. Rob Mercuri (Allegheny) will give up their House seats and run in the Republican primary for the Democratic-held Congressional seat. Hedging their bets are U.S. Rep. Ryan Bizarro of Erie and Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, who are seeking re-election to the state House of Representatives and Democratic primaries for state treasurer and state attorney general, respectively. He is running for office.
All 17 of Pennsylvania's current House members are up for re-election, and each has at least one opponent in the primary or fall election. Court-ordered redistricting after the 2020 census gave Democrats a 9-8 edge, and all 17 incumbents were re-elected when they ran for re-election two years ago.
In Allegheny County, freshman U.S. Rep. Summer Lee joins her Democratic primary challenger, Babini Patel, and other Republicans stand to face the Democratic winner in November.
The race in North Philadelphia, a district Democrats hope to flip, could show how much power the abortion issue has in the suburbs. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a centrist Republican, has a major opponent in his anti-abortion stance, which does not allow exceptions for rape and incest.
A three-way Republican primary will be held in the fall for the nomination against Lehigh Valley Democratic Rep. Susan Wilde. The Wild's past two wins were by single digits. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat from the Scranton area who has also been targeted repeatedly in recent years, does not have a primary opponent, although a Republican is planning to challenge him in November.
Six Democrats cast primary votes in a district held by Rep. Scott Perry, a York County Republican who was deeply involved in then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Participating in Perry has been a Democratic target this year, in part because of his prominent role in the far-right Congressional Freedom Caucus and several close re-election races over the past six years.
Mr. Shapiro appointed his subordinate Michelle Henry to fill a vacancy in his previous position as state attorney general in the gubernatorial election two years ago, which ends at the end of this year. She doesn't want to stay in her job.
Five Democrats are running for the nomination: Philadelphia attorney Kia Bradford-Gray, former auditor general and state Rep. Eugene DePasquale of Allegheny County, and former prosecutor and Bucks County attorney Joe. Kahn, Philadelphia Congressman Jared Solomon, and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.
Two Republican candidates are York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and State Representative Craig Williams of Delaware County. Sunday has received party support, while Williams has supported House Republicans' efforts to remove progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D).
For comptroller general, Philadelphia state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Lehigh County Commissioner Mark Pinsley are Democrats seeking to run against DeFoor in November. Kenyatta finished third in the 2022 Democratic U.S. Senate primary, won by John Fetterman.
State Treasurer Garrity has no opponent in the Republican primary. Democratic voters will choose between Bizarro and Allegheny County addiction recovery and human services specialist Erin McClelland.
