{"id":68254,"date":"2026-05-18T08:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pennsylvania-primary-election-sets-stage-for-key-congressional-battles\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:39:34","slug":"pennsylvania-primary-election-sets-stage-for-key-congressional-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pennsylvania-primary-election-sets-stage-for-key-congressional-battles\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Primary Election Sets Stage for Key Congressional Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pennsylvania voters will head to polling stations Tuesday to select Democratic candidates for four congressional seats that party leaders view as essential to regaining control of the U.S. House this November.<\/p>

The Republican Party currently maintains a narrow House majority, with only a small number of districts potentially determining which party controls the chamber in the coming term. Democratic strategists have identified four GOP-held Pennsylvania districts as prime opportunities for gains.<\/p>

Four Republican incumbents face no opposition in their party’s primaries: U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick in the 1st Congressional District, Ryan Mackenzie in the 7th Congressional District, Rob Bresnahan in the 8th Congressional District and Scott Perry in the 10th Congressional District.<\/p>

Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won the 1st District by a small margin in 2024, while Republican President Donald Trump secured victories by wider margins in the 7th, 8th and 10th Districts.<\/p>

Commonwealth voters will simultaneously choose nominees for lieutenant governor and candidates for both legislative chambers.<\/p>

Twenty-five of Pennsylvania’s 50 state Senate positions and all 203 state House positions will be contested in November’s general election. Democrats currently control the state House by a narrow margin, while Republicans maintain an advantage in the state Senate.<\/p>

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro faces no primary challengers in his reelection campaign and has used his campaign activities to support his preferred congressional candidates.<\/p>

Shapiro has endorsed Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie over former congressional aide Lucia Simonelli for the chance to face Fitzpatrick in the 1st District. For Mackenzie’s 7th District position, he supports retired firefighter and union leader Bob Brooks in a four-candidate primary that also includes military veteran and former prosecutor Ryan Crosswell. His choice to challenge Perry in the 10th District is former TV news anchor Janelle Stelson, who previously sought the seat in 2024. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti runs uncontested for the Democratic nomination to face Bresnahan in the 8th District, and she also has Shapiro’s backing.<\/p>

State Treasurer Stacy Garrity will be the governor’s Republican challenger in November, as she faces no primary opposition.<\/p>

Voting locations close at 8 p.m. ET.<\/p>

The AP will report vote tallies and announce winners in competitive primaries for U.S. House, lieutenant governor, state Senate and state House positions, plus a special election in state House District 196.<\/p>

Participation in party primaries is restricted to voters registered with that specific party. Democratic voters cannot cast ballots in Republican contests and vice versa. Voters registered as independent or unaffiliated cannot participate in either party’s primary.<\/p>

Pennsylvania had nearly 9 million registered voters as of May 11. Democratic registrations exceeded Republican registrations, 3.8 million to 3.6 million. Approximately 1.2 million voters were unaffiliated with any party.<\/p>

About 1.1 million Democratic primary ballots and roughly 953,000 Republican primary ballots were submitted in the 2024 presidential primaries, which occurred well after Trump and President Joe Biden had secured their nominations.<\/p>

During the more contested U.S. Senate primaries in 2022, both Republican and Democratic voters each submitted approximately 1.3 million ballots.<\/p>

Early voting accounted for roughly 45% of the 2024 Democratic presidential primary turnout and 17% of the Republican primary participation.<\/p>

Through Thursday, approximately 385,000 Democratic primary ballots and about 129,000 Republican primary ballots had been submitted for Tuesday’s election.<\/p>

Counties follow different procedures for releasing vote counts, though most report absentee ballot results alongside Election Day in-person voting throughout the evening. About one-third of counties publish all or nearly all early and absentee vote totals in their initial evening report.<\/p>

During the 2024 primary, the AP published initial results at 8:01 p.m. ET, roughly one minute after polls closed. The final vote update occurred at 2 a.m. ET with approximately 91% of total votes tallied.<\/p>

The Associated Press does not issue projections and will only declare a winner when determining that no possible scenario exists for a trailing candidate to overcome the deficit. When races remain undecided, the AP will report significant developments, including candidate concessions or victory claims, while clearly stating that no winner has been declared and explaining the reasoning.<\/p>

Pennsylvania law mandates automatic recounts for statewide contests with victory margins of 0.5 percentage points or smaller. For other races, voters may request recounts from county election boards or through court petitions. The AP may announce a winner in races subject to recounts if the margin is determined to be too large for a recount or legal challenge to alter the outcome.<\/p>

As of Tuesday, 168 days remain until the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania voters head to the polls Tuesday to select Democratic candidates who will challenge four Republican incumbents in districts crucial to determining control of the U.S. House. The primaries also include races for lieutenant governor and state legislative seats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779107974460.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-hKS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69208,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pa-democrats-select-congressional-challengers-for-november-house-races\/","url_meta":{"origin":68254,"position":0},"title":"PA Democrats Select Congressional Challengers for November House Races","author":"Admin","date":"May 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Democratic voters in Pennsylvania have chosen their nominees to face Republican incumbents in three competitive U.S. House districts this November. 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The move comes after a Supreme Court ruling weakened legal protections for minority-majority districts.","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780080724453.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62949,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/trump-pushes-tennessee-gop-to-redraw-districts-target-memphis-black-voters\/","url_meta":{"origin":68254,"position":3},"title":"Trump Pushes Tennessee GOP to Redraw Districts, Target Memphis Black Voters","author":"Admin","date":"May 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Tennessee Republican legislators are preparing to vote on a congressional redistricting plan backed by President Trump that would split up Memphis's majority-Black district. 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