2020 Pennsylvania Attorney General election

2020 Pennsylvania Attorney General election

←  2016 November 3, 2020 2024  →

Nominee Josh Shapiro Heather Heidelbaugh Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,461,472 3,153,831 Percentage 50.9% 46.3%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Shapiro:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Heidelbaugh:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie:      40–50%     No data

Attorney General before election Josh Shapiro Democratic Elected Attorney General Josh Shapiro Democratic

The Pennsylvania Attorney General election of 2020 was held on November 3, 2020. Primary elections were originally due to take place on April 28, 2020. However, following concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States including Pennsylvania, the primaries were delayed until June 2, 2020. ^[1] Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro defeated Republican Heather Heidelbaugh to win a second term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Josh Shapiro, incumbent Pennsylvania Attorney General ^[2]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Josh Shapiro (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			1,429,414	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Heather Heidelbaugh, partner, Leech Tishman; former Allegheny County councilwoman (2012–2016) ^[4]

Results

Republican primary results ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Heather Heidelbaugh	Unopposed
Total votes			1,055,168	100.0%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [5]	Likely D	July 17, 2020

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Josh Shapiro (D)	Heather Heidelbaugh (R)	Other	Undecided
Civiqs/Daily Kos [6]	October 23–26, 2020	1,145 (LV)	± %	52%	41%	5% [b]	3%
Monmouth University [7]	September 28 – October 4, 2020	500 (RV)	± 4.4%	53%	38%	1% [c]	7%
		500 (LV)		54% [d]	39%	–	–
				53% [e]	40%	–	–
Trafalgar Group (R) [8] [A]	September 23, 2020	1,023 (LV)	± 2.98%	47%	43%	5% [f]	5%
CPEC [9]	September 15–17, 2020	830 (LV)	± 2.3%	41%	21%	1%	37%
Monmouth University [10]	August 28–31, 2020	400 (RV)	± 4.9%	51%	41%	2% [g]	7%
		400 (LV)		52% [h]	41%	1%	6%
				51% [i]	42%	1%	6%

Endorsements

Josh Shapiro

U.S. Presidents

• Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States ^[11]

U.S. Senators

• Bob Casey Jr., U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (2007–present), Treasurer of Pennsylvania (2005-2007), Auditor General of Pennsylvania (1997-2005) ^[12]

Local Officials

• Pete Buttigieg, former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate ^[13]

Unions

• Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council ^[14]

Organizations

• Brady Campaign ^[15]
• Human Rights Campaign ^[16]
• Mom's Demand Action ^[17]
• NARAL ^[18]
• Pennsylvania Democratic Party ^[19]

Individuals

• Fred Guttenberg, activist ^[20]

Newspapers and other media

• The Philadelphia Tribune ^[21]
• The Philadelphia Inquirer ^[22]

Results

Pennsylvania Attorney General election, 2020 ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Josh Shapiro (incumbent)	3,461,472	50.85%	−0.56%
	Republican	Heather Heidelbaugh	3,153,831	46.33%	−2.28%
	Libertarian	Daniel Wassmer	120,489	1.77%	N/A
	Green	Richard L. Weiss	70,804	1.04%	N/A
Total votes			6,806,596	100.0%
	Democratic hold

By congressional district

Shapiro won ten of 18 congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican. ^[24]

District	Shapiro	Heidelbaugh	Representative
1st	52%	46%	Brian Fitzpatrick
2nd	71%	26%	Brendan Boyle
3rd	89%	8%	Dwight Evans
4th	61%	36%	Madeleine Dean
5th	63%	35%	Mary Gay Scanlon
6th	54%	43%	Chrissy Houlahan
7th	52%	45%	Susan Wild
8th	52%	46%	Matt Cartwright
9th	37%	60%	Dan Meuser
10th	47%	50%	Scott Perry
11th	37%	60%	Lloyd Smucker
12th	32%	65%	Fred Keller
13th	28%	69%	John Joyce
14th	42%	56%	Guy Reschenthaler
15th	31%	66%	Glenn Thompson
16th	43%	54%	Mike Kelly
17th	54%	43%	Conor Lamb
18th	67%	30%	Mike Doyle

See also

• 2020 Pennsylvania elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Wessmer (L) with 3%; Weiss (G) with 2%
3. "No one" with 1%; Wassmer (L) and Weiss (G) with 0%
4. With a likely voter turnout model featuring high turnout
5. With a likely voter turnout model featuring low turnout
6. Wassmer (L) and Weiss (G) with 2%; "Someone else" with 1%
7. "No one" and Wassmer (L) with 1%; Weiss (G) with 0%
8. With a likely voter turnout model featuring higher turnout than in the 2016 presidential election
9. With a likely voter turnout model featuring lower turnout than in the 2016 presidential election

Partisan clients

1. The American Industry Project has exclusively supported Republican candidates

References

1. Levy, Marc; Scolforo, Mark (March 25, 2020). "Pennsylvania lawmakers vote to delay primary election". AP NEWS. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
2. Southwick, Ron. "Josh Shapiro running for re-election as Pa. Attorney General". PennLive. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
3. Boockvar, Kathy. "Pennsylvania Elections - Office Results | Attorney General". Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
4. Gerow, Charlie (May 24, 2020). "An introduction to the GOP candidates for statewide offices as primary day approaches | Charlie Gerow". Penn Live.
5. "An Updated Look at Handicapping the 2020 Attorney General Elections". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
6. Civiqs/Daily Kos
7. Monmouth University
8. Trafalgar Group (R)
9. CPEC
10. Monmouth University
11. Obama, Barack (August 3, 2020). "First Wave of 2020 Endorsements". Medium .
12. "PA-AG: Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D) Endorses Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) For Re-Election". Daily Kos.
13. "Pete Buttigieg endorses 54 Democrats seeking office this November". September 18, 2020.
14. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
15. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
16. "Human Rights Campaign Endorses Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro for Re-Election". HRC. October 5, 2020.
17. "Gun Sense Voter". Gun Sense Voter.
18. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
19. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
20. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
21. "Tribune endorsements for statewide offices". The Philadelphia Tribune. October 27, 2020.
22. "Josh Shapiro would continue a track record of integrity as attorney general | Inquirer Endorsement". The Philadelphia Inquirer . October 12, 2020. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
23. "2020 Presidential Election - Statewide" . Retrieved November 25, 2020.
24. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Josh Shapiro (D) for Attorney General
• Heather Heidelbaugh (R) for Attorney General ^{[ usurped ]}