Politics of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a very important state in American politics. It is often called a "swing state" because its votes can change the outcome of big elections. Over its history, Pennsylvania has voted for the winner of the national election 83% of the time. This means its votes really matter when choosing leaders for the whole country.

For many years, Pennsylvania leaned toward one political party, but its views have shifted over time. In the 1990s until the 2010s, it usually voted for Democratic candidates. But in 2016, it voted for Republican Donald Trump. Trump won the state again in 2024 after losing it in 2020.

Today, Pennsylvania has a mix of leaders from different parties. Democrat Josh Shapiro is the governor, while the state house is controlled by Democrats and the state senate by Republicans. This split shows how evenly divided the state's voters can be. Pennsylvania also sends leaders to the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, where both parties have members from the state.

History

Philadelphia is a strong area for Democratic voters, often giving big wins to Democrats in elections across the state. Other cities like Pittsburgh, Erie, Harrisburg, Allentown, and Scranton also tend to support Democrats. However, rural areas of Pennsylvania usually vote for Republicans. This creates a political map where the center of the state appears red, with blue areas around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

In recent years, some areas that used to vote Democratic, especially in southwestern Pennsylvania, have started voting more for Republicans. This shift happened after 2004 and is similar to changes in other states like West Virginia and Kentucky. The areas that are most likely to change their votes are the suburbs around big cities, such as those near Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania has often been a state where Republicans were strong, but recent years have seen more Democratic success. Democrats have controlled the governor's office for most years since 2003, with Governor Ed Rendell, followed by Tom Wolf, and then Josh Shapiro after the 2022 election. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided that the state's congressional map was unfair because it favored Republicans. A new map was created, which helped Democrats win more seats in Congress. In the 2018 elections, Governor Tom Wolf was reelected, and Democrats also made gains in other important positions.

Federal relations

During the time Tom Ridge was in charge, Pennsylvania had a special office in Washington, D.C., to talk to the federal government of the United States. Later, when Ed Rendell was in charge, Pennsylvania closed that office and instead paid a company called Blank Rome to do the talking. The government said this cost $140,000 less each year than keeping its own office.

Federal representation

Pennsylvania has 17 areas called House districts. In the current group of leaders, ten are from one group and seven are from another.

Pennsylvania’s two leaders in the big group are from different groups.

Pennsylvania’s legal cases are handled in three special courts, and any problems with these cases go to a bigger court in Philadelphia.