Elections in Pennsylvania |
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United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania occur when voters in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania select an individual to represent the state in the United States Senate in either of the state's two seats allotted by the U.S. Constitution. Regularly scheduled general elections occur on Election Day, coinciding with various other federal, statewide, and local races.
Per the original text of the U.S. Constitution, each state was allotted two U.S. senators selected by the state legislature for staggered six-year terms. After the election of the founding members of the U.S. Senate in 1788, the Senate was divided into three groups, or "classes" (Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3) to stagger the six-year terms of its members. Per Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the founding members of Class 1 would serve two years, Class 2 four years, and Class 3 six years. All senators elected thereafter would serve full six-year terms such that one-third of the Senate would be up for re-election every two years. [1] Pennsylvania was assigned a Class 1 seat and a Class 3 seat. [2] [3] Since the passage of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, U.S. senators are elected directly to six-year terms by the voters of each state at the general election held on Election Day. Special elections may be held to fill mid-term vacancies by electing an individual to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. [4] The next Class 1 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania is scheduled for November 5, 2024, and the next Class 3 election in Pennsylvania is scheduled for November 7, 2028.
The list below contains election returns from all nineteen Class 1 and twenty-one Class 3 post-17th Amendment U.S. Senate elections in Pennsylvania, including special elections, sorted by year and beginning with the first in 1914 and the most recent in 2022. Incumbent senators are listed as well as elected senators and runner(s)-up in each election, including major third-party candidates (garnering 5% or more of the popular vote). Parties are color-coded to the left of a Senator's or candidate's name according to the key below. The popular vote and percentage margins listed in the "Margin" column are the differences between the total votes received and percentage of the popular vote received by the top two finishers in the corresponding election (i.e. the margin-of-victory of an elected Senator over the nearest competitor).
Independent Democratic Republican Prohibition Progressive Party (1924) Progressive Party (1912)
Election* | Incumbent Senator | Elected Senator | Votes | Runner(s)-up | Votes | Margin | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | George T. Oliver | Philander C. Knox | 680,451 (56.36%) | Ellis L. Orvis | 450,106 (37.28%) | 230,345 (19.08%) | [5] | |||
1922* | David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 860,483 (86.15%) | Others | 138,377 (13.85%) | — | [6] [note 2] | |||
David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 802,146 (56.04%) | Samuel E. Shull | 423,583 (29.59%) | 378,563 (26.45%) | |||||
William J. Burke | 127,180 (8.88%) | |||||||||
1928 | David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 1,948,646 (64.38%) | William N. McNair | 1,029,055 (34.00%) | 919,591 (30.38%) | [7] | |||
1934 | David A. Reed | Joseph F. Guffey | 1,494,001 (50.78%) | David A. Reed | 1,366,877 (46.46%) | 127,124 (4.32%) | [8] | |||
1940 | Joseph F. Guffey | Joseph F. Guffey | 2,069,980 (51.79%) | Jay Cooke | 1,893,104 (47.36%) | 176,876 (4.43%) | [9] | |||
1946 | Joseph F. Guffey | Edward Martin | 1,853,458 (59.26%) | Joseph F. Guffey | 1,245,338 (39.81%) | 608,120 (19.45%) | [10] | |||
1952 | Edward Martin | Edward Martin | 2,331,034 (51.57%) | Guy K. Bard | 2,168,546 (47.98%) | 162,488 (3.59%) | [11] | |||
1958 | Edward Martin | Hugh Scott | 2,042,586 (51.21%) | George M. Leader | 1,929,821 (48.38%) | 112,765 (2.83%) | [12] | |||
1964 | Hugh Scott | Hugh Scott | 2,429,858 (50.64%) | Genevieve Blatt | 2,353,223 (49.05%) | 76,635 (1.59%) | [13] | |||
1970 | Hugh Scott | Hugh Scott | 1,874,106 (51.43%) | William Sesler | 1,653,774 (45.38%) | 220,332 (6.05%) | [14] | |||
1976 | Hugh Scott | John Heinz | 2,381,891 (52.39%) | William Green | 2,126,977 (46.78%) | 254,914 (5.61%) | [15] | |||
1982 | John Heinz | John Heinz | 2,136,418 (59.28%) | Cyril Wecht | 1,412,965 (39.20%) | 723,453 (20.08%) | [16] | |||
1988 | John Heinz | John Heinz | 2,901,715 (66.45%) | Joe Vignola | 1,416,764 (32.45%) | 1,484,951 (34.00%) | [17] | |||
1991* | Harris Wofford | Harris Wofford | 1,860,760 (55.01%) | Dick Thornburgh | 1,521,986 (44.99%) | 338,774 (10.02%) | [18] [note 3] | |||
1994 | Harris Wofford | Rick Santorum | 1,735,691 (49.40%) | Harris Wofford | 1,648,481 (46.92%) | 87,210 (2.48%) | [19] | |||
2000 | Rick Santorum | Rick Santorum | 2,481,962 (52.42%) | Ron Klink | 2,154,908 (45.51%) | 327,054 (6.91%) | [20] | |||
2006 | Rick Santorum | Bob Casey, Jr. | 2,392,984 (58.68%) | Rick Santorum | 1,684,778 (41.32%) | 708,206 (17.36%) | [21] | |||
2012 | Bob Casey, Jr. | Bob Casey, Jr. | 3,021,364 (53.69%) | Tom Smith | 2,509,132 (44.59%) | 512,232 (9.10%) | [22] | |||
2018 | Bob Casey, Jr. | Bob Casey, Jr. | 2,792,437 (55.74%) | Lou Barletta | 2,134,848 (42.62%) | 657,589 (13.12%) | [23] |
Note: Asterisk (*) next to year denotes a special election.
Election* | Incumbent Senator | Elected Senator | Votes | Runner(s)-up | Votes | Margin | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1914 | Boies Penrose | Boies Penrose | 519,801 (46.75%) | Gifford Pinchot | 269,235 (24.22%) | 250,566 (22.53%) | [24] | |||
A. Mitchell Palmer | 266,415 (23.96%) | |||||||||
1920 | Boies Penrose | Boies Penrose | 1,069,785 (59.98%) | John A. Farrell | 484,352 (24.22%) | 585,433 (35.76%) | [25] | |||
Leah C. Marion | 132,610 (7.44%) | |||||||||
1922* | George W. Pepper | George W. Pepper | 819,507 (57.60%) | Fred Kerr | 468,330 (32.92%) | 351,177 (24.68%) | [26] [note 4] | |||
1926 | George W. Pepper | William S. Vare | 822,178 (54.64%) | William B. Wilson | 648,680 (43.11%) | 173,498 (11.53%) | [27] | |||
1930* | Joseph R. Grundy | James J. Davis | 1,462,186 (71.54%) | Sedgwick Kistler | 523,338 (25.61%) | 938,848 (45.93%) | [28] [note 5] | |||
1932 | James J. Davis | James J. Davis | 1,368,707 (49.35%) | Lawrence H. Rupp | 1,200,322 (43.28%) | 168,385 (6.07%) | [29] | |||
1938 | James J. Davis | James J. Davis | 2,086,932 (54.72%) | George H. Earle | 1,694,464 (43.11%) | 392,468 (11.61%) | [30] | |||
1944 | James J. Davis | Francis J. Myers | 1,864,735 (49.99%) | James J. Davis | 1,840,943 (49.35%) | 23,792 (0.64%) | [31] | |||
1950 | Francis J. Myers | James H. Duff | 1,820,400 (51.30%) | Francis J. Myers | 1,694,076 (47.74%) | 126,324 (3.56%) | [32] | |||
1956 | James H. Duff | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,268,641 (50.08%) | James H. Duff | 2,250,671 (49.69%) | 17,970 (0.39%) | [33] | |||
1962 | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,238,383 (51.06%) | James E. Van Zandt | 2,134,649 (48.70%) | 103,734 (2.36%) | [34] | |||
1968 | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | Richard Schweiker | 2,399,762 (51.90%) | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,117,662 (45.80%) | 282,100 (6.10%) | [35] | |||
1974 | Richard Schweiker | Richard Schweiker | 1,843,317 (53.00%) | Peter F. Flaherty | 1,596,121 (45.89%) | 247,196 (7.11%) | [36] | |||
1980 | Richard Schweiker | Arlen Specter | 2,230,404 (50.48%) | Peter F. Flaherty | 2,122,391 (48.04%) | 108,013 (2.44%) | [37] | |||
1986 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 1,906,537 (56.44%) | Robert W. Edgar | 1,448,219 (42.87%) | 458,318 (13.57%) | [38] | |||
1992 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 2,358,125 (49.10%) | Lynn Yeakel | 2,224,966 (46.33%) | 133,159 (2.77%) | [39] | |||
1998 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 1,814,180 (61.34%) | William R. Lloyd, Jr. | 1,028,839 (34.79%) | 785,341 (26.55%) | [40] | |||
2004 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 2,925,080 (52.62%) | Joe Hoeffel | 2,334,126 (41.99%) | 590,954 (10.63%) | [41] | |||
2010 | Arlen Specter | Pat Toomey | 2,028,945 (51.01%) | Joe Sestak | 1,948,716 (48.99%) | 80,229 (2.02%) | [42] [note 6] | |||
2016 | Pat Toomey | Pat Toomey | 2,951,702 (48.77%) | Kathleen McGinty | 2,865,012 (47.34%) | 86,690 (1.43%) | [43] | |||
2022 | Pat Toomey | John Fetterman | 2,751,012 (51.03%) | Mehmet Oz | 2,487,260 (46.03%) | 208,334 (4.04%) | [44] |
Note: Asterisk (*) next to year denotes a special election.
The 1922 United States Senate elections were elections that occurred in the middle of Republican President Warren G. Harding's term. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. With the Republicans divided between conservative and progressive factions, the Democrats gained six net seats from the Republicans while the Farmer–Labor party gained one. The Republicans retained their Senate majority.
The 1908–09 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were primarily chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1906 and 1907, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. However, some states had already begun direct elections during this time. Oregon pioneered direct election and experimented with different measures over several years until it succeeded in 1907. Soon after, Nebraska followed suit and laid the foundation for other states to adopt measures reflecting the people's will. By 1912, as many as 29 states elected senators either as nominees of their party's primary or in conjunction with a general election.
The 1808–09 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the 1808 presidential election. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1808 and 1809, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The 1848–49 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1848 and 1849, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1856–57 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1856 and 1857, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The 1876–77 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with Rutherford B. Hayes's narrow election as president. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1876 and 1877, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.
The 1900–01 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with President William McKinley's re-election as well as the 1900 House of Representatives elections. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1900 and 1901, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.
The 1904–05 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with President Theodore Roosevelt's landslide election to a full term and the 1904 House of Representatives elections. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1904 and 1905, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The 1878–79 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1878 and 1879, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1844–45 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with James K. Polk's election. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1844 and 1845, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The 1884–85 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the presidential election of 1884. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1884 and 1885, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1886–87 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1886 and 1887, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The 1890–91 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1890 and 1891, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1842–43 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1842 and 1843, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1840–41 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1840 and 1841, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.
The 1794–95 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1794 and 1795, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1830–31 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1830 and 1831, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1860–61 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1860 and 1861, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The 1845 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania was held on March 13, 1845. Simon Cameron was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.