The latest updates from the 2026 election in Pennsylvania

This story will updated throughout the day and night with the latest results from the 2026 election in Pennsylvania.

Longtime GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is defeated

12:47 a.m.

Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie has defeated five-term U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District. The district includes all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County in the Philadelphia suburbs. The race was the fourth of four competitive U.S. House races in Pennsylvania to be called as Democrats racked up at least 20 flips in Congress across the country.

— Peter Hall

Democrat flips Pa. Senate seat

11:42 p.m.

Democratic challenger Brian Wrightson has declared in Pennsylvania’s 40th state Senate District over incumbent Republican Sen. Rosemary Brown. Democrats had been aiming to flip the district, which includes parts of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties and all of Monroe County, with the goal of flipping control of the chamber.

GOP retakes key Pa. Senate seat in Lancaster County

11:36 p.m.

With 100% of votes counted, Republican Rep. Tom Jones has appears to have defeated Democratic state Sen. James Malone in the 36th state Senate District in Lancaster, according to unofficial results. Malone won the seat in a 2025 special election that surprised many observers. The district hadn’t been represented by a Democrat since the 19th century. Jones’ win returns the seat to Republican hands and complicates Democrats hopes of winning a majority in the chamber

— Ian Karbal

GOP holds 16th Congressional District

11:08 p.m. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly has won an eighth term in Congress, with the AP calling Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District in his favor. The district includes Erie and its surrounding eponymous county plus five other counties in the northwest corner of the state and parts of Venango County. Democrat Justin Wagner challenged Kelly.

— Emily Previti

GOP Rep. Lloyd Smucker wins a 5th term

11:05 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker won the 11th Congressional District, according to The Associated Press, covering all of Lancaster County and part of York County. Smucker’s in his fifth term in Congress; before that, he was in the state Senate for eight years. His challenger was Democrat Nancy Mannion.

— Emily Previti

GOP Rep. Reschenthaler picks up another term

10:58 p.m.

Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler will win a fifth term, according to The Associated Press, representing Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District in the southwestern corner of the state. Democrat Alan Bradstock challenged Reschenthaler, who served a term in the state House before going to Congress.

— Emily Previti

GOP Rep. Dan Meuser cruises to re-election

10:54 p.m. 

Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District will be represented by Republican Rep. Dan Meuser for his fifth term, per The Associated Press. Democrat Rachel Wallace challenged him for the seat, which represents six counties and parts of three others stretching through the state’s coal region into the northern tier.

— Emily Previti

Perry toppled as Democrats claim a second key seat

10:47 p.m.

In one of the most competitive Congressional districts in the country, Democrat Janelle Stelson defeated seven-term incumbent Rep. Scott Perry, a staunch Trump supporter and a longtime target for her party.

The race was a rematch. Stelson unsuccessfully challenged Perry in 2024, losing by roughly 5,100 votes, or just over 1% of the vote.

Perry, the former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, is one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters in congress. He has been a vocal advocate for some of his administration’s most controversial policies, including its decision to go to war in Iran and enact sweeping cuts to the Medicaid program.

— Ian Karball

First of four key Pa. US House races goes to a Democrat

Democrat Bob Brooks defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican, in the 7th congressional district in eastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, according to the AP. The race pitted Brooks, a former firefighter and president of the state firefighters union, against Mackenzie, a first-term congressman and former state lawmaker.

— Peter Hall

Pa. election runs smoothly

10:17 p.m.

In a press conference after polls closed, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said that Election Day in the Commonwealth went smoothly, but asked voters to be patient as results are tabulated.

“Today, millions of eligible voters voted in another free, fair, safe and secure election here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said.

However, Schmidt warned that the process of tabulating every vote will take time, and particularly close elections could take days or weeks to call.

In Pennsylvania, that’s in part because counting mail ballots can be a long process. State law does not allow what’s called “precanvassing” before election day, meaning election workers can’t even begin to prepare ballots for counting until the morning of election day. Counting provisional and overseas ballots can also delay results.

Schmidt also said no major problems were reported at polling places, though a handful of precincts in several counties received court orders to remain open late after minor issues or delays opening. County officials spend months planning for a host of issues that could arise on election day, and make contingency plans in case they do.

He also said he was not aware of any reports of federal monitors interfering with voters.

“I’m not aware of any issues when it came to monitors in any way interfering with voting taking place, and certainly none of the other things that everyone has prepared for all these weeks that have come to pass,” he said.

Ahead of the election, the U.S. Department of Justice alerted Schmidt that it would be sending election monitors to polling places in four Pennsylvania dounties.

— Ian Karbal

Dean of Pennsylvania’s US House delegation wins another term

9:39 p.m.

Republican Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson won Pennsylvania’s sprawling 15th Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. He defeated Democratic challenger Ray Bilger. Heading into his tenth term, Thompson remains the longest-serving in the delegation and is currently chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture. At nearly 13,000 square miles, the 15th is the commonwealth’s largest congressional district stretching across most of the northern border counties down into the heart of the state.

Houlahan re-elected

9:34 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan earned another term, according to the AP, in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which includes all of Chester County into southern Berks County up through Reading. She beat Republican challenger Marty Young. Houlahan came into office as part of a “blue wave” in 2018.

GOP Congressman John Joyce wins a fifth term

9:30 p.m.

Republican U.S. Rep. John Joyce is declared the winner by the AP in Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District over challenger Beth Farnham, a Democrat. This will be Joyce’s fifth term representing the 13th, which covers 10 counties in south central Pa., plus snippets of another two.

— Emily Previti

Head of Pa. Democratic Party happy with early returns

9:20 p.m.

Eugene DePasquale, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said it’s “already started as a really good night,” as he addressed the audience in Camp Hill, Cumberland County, after Gov. Josh Shapiro secured a second term.

He boasted about “the most impressive voter registration effort in state history,” noting the the party has registered more voters than Republicans each month for the last year.

In a state that voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he said Tuesday’s results showed Democrats are fighting with a unified message ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

“There’s no map for a Democrat to win the White House without Pennsylvania,, and we are showing here tonight we are on the path to turning Pennsylvania blue in the presidential race,” DePasquale continued.

— Whitney Downard

Democrats Lee and Delusion notch re-election wins

9:06 p.m.

The Associated Press calls Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District for U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat who’s served two terms representing the 12th covering parts of Pittsburgh and Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Lee’s challenger was Republican James Hayes.

Democrat Chris Deluzio wins a third term – per AP – serving Pennsyvalnia’s 17th congressional district, which is all of Beaver County plus pieces of northwest Allegheny County. Republican Tony Guy ran against Deluzio, who’s said to be eyeing a U.S. Senate run in 2028.

— Emily Previti

Democrat Madeleine Dean earns 8th term in 4th Congressional District

8:58 p.m. 

According to The Associated Press, Democrat Madeleine Dean secured her eighth term representing Pennsylvania’s 4th congressional district, which encompasses most of Berks and Montgomery counties. She defeated Republican challenger Aurora Stuski. Dean is among the longest-serving in the commonwealth’s delegation to Republicans Glenn “GT” Thompson (15th), favored to win his tenth term, and Mike Kelly (16th), expected to win his ninth.

— Emily Previti

In the 5th Congressional District, Democrat Mary Scanlon earns another term

8:46 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon wins another term representing Pennsylvania’s fifth district, which covers part of south Philly, all Delaware County and pieces of Chester and Montgomery counties. Scanlon, whose challenger was Republican Nick Manganaro, was among Democrats elected in 2018 as part of a “blue wave”. In Pennsylvania, that coincided with an off-cycle redistricting ordered by the state Supreme Court when it found the commonwealth’s prior congressional map was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander – though some analyses have shown Democrats likely could have made gains with the old boundaries in place.

— Emily Previti

Boyle re-elected, while Rabb heads to Congress after win

8:30 p.m.

Shapiro cruises to re-election. 

8:01 p.m.

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis handily defeated their Republican challengers in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election, securing a second term.

The Associated Press called the race within two minutes of the polls closing. With only 3% of the vote counted, Shapiro had 85% of the vote compared to Garrity’s 14%.

— Ian Karbal

‘Here as polling observers and peacekeepers’ in Harrisburg

4:38 p.m.

Anjel Scarborough, 62, an Episcopal priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hershey, is spending most of her day at the 11th precinct polling place in Harrisburg. 

She’s with a left-leaning organization called Changing the Conversation Together that’s been canvassing and working to get out the vote in underserved neighborhoods nearby.

“We’re here as polling observers and peacekeepers, and helping people exercise their right to vote,” she said about their role on election day.

Scarborough said she herself supports any candidate opposing the Trump administration. She said President Donald Trump’s agenda has been “harming the most vulnerable populations in our country,” pointing in particular to Project 2025, a comprehensive policy playbook authored by the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. While Trump denied any affiliation with the project during the 2024 election, some of its key architects now serve critical roles in his administration.

“I think the theologian Karl Barth said it well, who said ‘You should preach with the bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other,’” she said. “For me it’s the bible in one hand and a smartphone in the other. You need to know how to really look at the ethics of our faith, and how do we apply those ethics towards evaluating candidates by their character.”

While her congregation is in one of the more affluent areas of central Pennsylvania, she said many of the members work or used to work at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

“I have a lot of doctors and medical people who saw the devastation firsthand of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re also living and dealing with, firsthand, the rise in measles and the public health policies that have been implemented by the Trump administration.”

She said many of her members are concerned about the looming impacts of Medicaid cuts that were enshrined into law as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. While the bill was signed into law in 2025, it was authored so policies that are expected to lead to the steepest cuts, like new work-requirements for Medicaid enrollees, will go into effect after the midterms.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that work requirements alone could lead to over 5 million people losing Medicaid coverage by 2034. Limited studies have shown that, in states that when Arkansas implemented work requirements for Medicaid, little impact was made on overall employment, but thousands lost coverage. 

The changes are estimated to save around $325 billion over 10 years, largely because of an expected drop in the number of Americans covered. Advocates have warned the policy will likely lead to eligible workers losing Medicaid coverage, in part because of stringent new paperwork requirements.

The 11th Precinct polling place had served 330 voters as of around 3:20 p.m., and is on track to see higher turnout than the 2022 midterm elections.

— Ian Karbal

Chester County reports mail-in ballot processing moving smoothly

4:15 p.m.

Mail-in ballot processing moved smoothly Tuesday in Chester County, where a foreign object in a ballot envelope forced election workers to evacuate the building last week.

After polls opened Tuesday, the first shift of county employees who volunteered to open and prepare ballots for scanning began work. 

They included people from the county’s Public Defender’s Office, Finance Department, Assessment Office and other agencies who stepped up to aid election officials in processing more than 59,000 mail ballots received through Monday, with more to come in the mail and drop off boxes around the county.

Before the ballots can be electronically scanned to record the votes, they must first be checked for signatures and dates, removed from their envelopes, sorted and flattened. None of the work can begin until polling places open on Election Day. 

“Things are going well. No news is good news,” said Kevin Seeling, a technical administrator for the county Board of Elections. He added the process was on pace to have the mail ballots tallied by the time polls close.

On Friday, the building was locked down after a worker identified a “non-liquid substance” inside a ballot envelope by feeling the outside. The Chester County Hazardous Materials Response Team was able to render the building safe within 90 minutes.

Preliminary testing directed by the FBI revealed there was no biohazard inside the envelope

County officials announced Tuesday morning that voting hours would be extended for 30 minutes in three precincts due to issues setting up voting machines. 

At Susan W. Starkweather Elementary School a few miles away, volunteers reported a slow, but steady flow of voters to the polls inside. 

On the ballot, voters had to choose between incumbent Republican state Rep. Craig Williams and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Moro in addition to the gubernatorial and congressional races. It’s one of a handful of districts where Democrats hope to flip the seat to retain and deepen their majority in the state House of Representatives.

But those who spoke with a reporter said they had broader issues than the state legislature on their minds. 

Kenny Gill, a math professor at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, said he has voted in every election recently and on Tuesday selected all Democrats.

“I voted a mixed ballot before … I feel like everything has gotten so radicalized. You know, there was a once upon a time where both the parties were kind of moderate,” Gill said. “There’s a lot of common ground, and I just feel like everything’s gotten so extreme. It’s not a new thing for the last five or 10 years, at least.”

Describing the federal government as “a clown show,” Gill said he’s disturbed by the Trump administration’s “purely punitive” policies and the tactics police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are using across the country.

“There’s so much being funneled into defense and increasing security and funding more and more cruel devices for ICE agents to use against people, like those gloves that shock people,” he said.

Meanwhile, cuts to the federal budget have targeted programs that help people.

“Then we’re going to put billions into spending on this crap to torment our own citizens. Right? Things are ridiculous,” Gill added.

Kristin Grandzol said she voted because she wants Democrats to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“With Trump in office, I just want anything that can help counterbalance some of his decisions,” she said.

The war in Iran, with no clear resolution in sight, was her biggest motivator to come to the polls.

“All this money is going to the war in Iran, and we have people here who can’t eat and get health care,” Grandzol said.

Nick Bonkoski brought his three daughters with him when he voted. Their futures were on his mind as he cast his ballot, he said.

“Raising three children these days, there’s a lot of things that are affecting the way that we look at what’s going on in politics around the world,” he said, adding that the cost of fuel and groceries were also a big concern with five mouths to feed. 

Latisha Johnson said she votes “every single year” and said the economy and women’s rights were her main motivators in this election. She voted for all Democrats.

“I think that the underserved are being severely underserved with this presidency,” she said. “We live in a really nice, affluent area here. And I think as Americans, it’s our responsibility to take care of everyone, including and most importantly those that are underserved.”

— Peter Hall