2020 Pennsylvania Senate election

See also: 2020 Pennsylvania elections

2020 Pennsylvania Senate election

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All odd-numbered seats in the Pennsylvania State Senate 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Joe Scarnati Jay Costa Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 2, 2007 (2007-01-02) January 4, 2011 (2011-01-04) Leader's seat 25th 43rd Last election 29 21 Seats before 28 21 Seats won 15 10 Seats after 28 21 Seat change Popular vote 1,636,593 1,580,922 Percentage 50.87% 49.13%   Third party   Party Independent Last election 0 Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seats after 1 Seat change
Results      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain      No election
President Pro Tempore before election Joe Scarnati Republican President Pro Tempore Jake Corman Republican

The 2020 elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate were held on November 3, 2020, with 25 of 50 districts being contested. Primary elections were held on June 2, 2020. ^[1] The term of office for those elected in 2020 began when the Senate convened in January 2021. Pennsylvania State Senators are elected for four-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every two years. ^[2] The election coincided with the 2020 United States presidential election, United States House of Representatives elections, and the entirety of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Republicans had controlled the chamber since the 1994 election (26 years).

Special election

48th senatorial district

A special election for the 48th senatorial district was held on January 14 following Republican State Senator Mike Folmer's resignation after being arrested for possession of child pornography. ^[3] Democrats selected Lebanon Valley College associate professor Michael Schroeder as their nominee, while Republicans nominated Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold. ^[4]

Pennsylvania Senate, District 48 special election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Arnold	18,234	68.70
	Democratic	Michael Schroeder	9,950	35.30
Total votes			28,184	100.00
	Republican hold

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [5]	Lean R	October 21, 2020

General election overview

Statewide results ^[6]

Affiliation		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats before	Seats up	Seats won	Seats after
	Republican	20	1,636,593	50.87	28	15	15 ()	28
	Democratic	24	1,580,922	49.13	21	10	10 ()	21
	Independent	0	0	0	1	0	0 ()	1
Total		TBD	3,217,515	100	50	25	25	50

Popular vote for 25 Senate seats Republican   50.87% Democratic   49.13%

Percentage of 25 Senate seats won Republican   60% Democratic   40%

Close races

Six district races had winning margins of less than 15%:

District	Winner	Margin
District 9	Democratic (flip)	3.9%
District 13	Republican	11.26%
District 15	Republican	3.46%
District 19	Democratic	14.90%
District 37	Republican (flip)	4.14%
District 45	Democratic	0.06%

Results by district

District	Party		Incumbent	Status	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
1		Democratic	Larry Farnese	Lost in primary		Democratic	Nikil Saval	121,855	100.00%
3		Democratic	Sharif Street	Unopposed		Democratic	Sharif Street	87,162	100.00%
5		Democratic	John Sabatina	Unopposed		Democratic	John Sabatina	67,365	100.00%
7		Democratic	Vincent Hughes	Unopposed		Democratic	Vincent Hughes	112,759	100.00%
9		Republican	Tom Killion	Defeated		Democratic	John I. Kane	80,083	51.95%
						Republican	Tom Killion	74,078	48.05%
11		Democratic	Judy Schwank	Re-elected		Democratic	Judy Schwank	64,011	58.61%
						Republican	Annette Baker	45,205	41.39%
13		Republican	Scott Martin	Re-elected		Republican	Scott Martin	73,046	55.63%
						Democratic	Janet Diaz	58,267	44.37%
15		Republican	John DiSanto	Re-elected		Republican	John DiSanto	70,041	51.73%
						Democratic	George Scott	65,366	48.27%
17		Democratic	Daylin Leach	Lost in primary		Democratic	Amanda Cappelletti	104,273	65.85%
						Republican	Ellen Fisher	54,066	34.15%
19		Democratic	Andy Dinniman	Retired [7]		Democratic	Carolyn Comitta	87,636	57.45%
						Republican	Kevin Runey	64,907	42.55%
21		Republican	Scott Hutchinson	Re-elected		Republican	Scott Hutchinson	96,811	70.93%
						Democratic	Shelbie Stromyer	39,677	29.07%
23		Republican	Eugene Yaw	Re-elected		Republican	Eugene Yaw	86,655	73.10%
						Democratic	Jaclyn Baker	31,888	26.90%
25		Republican	Joe Scarnati	Retired [8]		Republican	Cris Dush	88,688	74.43%
						Democratic	Margaret S. Brown	30,457	25.57%
27		Republican	John Gordner	Re-elected		Republican	John Gordner	83,166	72.28%
						Democratic	Michelle Siegel	31,891	27.72%
29		Republican	Dave Argall	Unopposed		Republican	Dave Argall	104,193	100.00%
31		Republican	Mike Regan	Re-elected		Republican	Mike Regan	94,459	60.48%
						Democratic	Shanna Danielson	61,714	39.52%
33		Republican	Doug Mastriano	Re-elected		Republican	Doug Mastriano	95,682	68.65%
						Democratic	Richard Sterner	43,678	31.35%
35		Republican	Wayne Langerholc	Re-elected		Republican	Wayne Langerholc	91,457	73.64%
						Democratic	Shaun Dougherty	32,742	26.36%
37		Democratic	Pam Iovino	Defeated		Republican	Devlin Robinson	91,092	52.07%
						Democratic	Pam Iovino	83,845	47.93%
39		Republican	Kim Ward	Re-elected		Republican	Kim Ward	91,938	67.65%
						Democratic	Tay Waltenbaugh	43,970	32.35%
41		Republican	Joe Pittman	Re-elected		Republican	Joe Pittman	91,754	72.83%
						Democratic	Anthony Deloreto	34,223	27.17%
43		Democratic	Jay Costa	Unopposed		Democratic	Jay Costa	117,255	100.00%
45		Democratic	Jim Brewster	Re-elected		Democratic	Jim Brewster	66,261	50.03%
						Republican	Nicole Ziccarelli	66,192	49.97%
47		Republican	Elder Vogel	Re-elected		Republican	Elder Vogel	87,423	66.50%
						Democratic	Stephen Krizan	44,051	33.50%
49		Republican	Dan Laughlin	Re-elected		Republican	Dan Laughlin	69,813	59.82%
						Democratic	Julie Slomski	46,900	40.18%

See also

• 2020 Pennsylvania elections
• 2020 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election
• Elections in Pennsylvania
• List of Pennsylvania state legislatures

References

1. "Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
2. Center, Legislativate Data Processing. "Members of the Senate". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
3. Nguyen, Tin (January 21, 2020). "Pennsylvania state senator Mike Folmer arrested for child pornography". WTAJ - www.wearecentralpa.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
4. Cole, John (October 21, 2019). "SD48: Arnold, Schroeder Nominated in Special Election". PoliticsPA . Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
5. "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
6. "Pennsylvania Elections – Official Results". Pennsylvania Department of State. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
7. Fernandez, Cynthia (February 10, 2020). "Longtime Pennsylvania State Senator Andy Dinniman is retiring". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
8. Micek, John (February 12, 2020). "Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati is not seeking re-election". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved March 5, 2020.

External links

• Electionreturns.pa.gov, Pennsylvania Department of State
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Pennsylvania", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Pennsylvania: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org , Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• National Institute on Money in Politics; Campaign Finance Institute, "Pennsylvania 2019 & 2020 Elections", OpenSecrets