In a state where no other group thought it was worth investing to build power, our goal was to make headway towards gaining 12 seats to end rightwing control of the legislature by 2024. 

However, in this cycle we flipped the Pennsylvania House, netting the 12 seats that we needed for a new majority!

 

 

Special Elections

With the death of a lawmaker and two elected representatives resigning for other offices, three seats currently held by Democrats are vacant. The States Project will be supporting special elections campaigns in February 2023 to help hold these seats. If we lose even one of these races, the rightwing will regain the majority.

With all of the State House up for election this year, Pennsylvania was twelve seats away from a majority in the House of Representatives. With fairer maps than after redistricting, The States Project’s electoral work focused on ending rightwing control of the Pennsylvania legislature — by shifting power in the House, we could protect 19 crucial electoral votes from being stolen in 2024.  

• We worked with our in-state partners to support a full program in Pennsylvania, layering effective messages through tactics that reinforced each other as they met voters across a variety of platforms.
• Candidates who participated in our signature Door Knocking Challenge personally knocked on over 151,000 doors —  accounting for 94% of the total doors knocked in nearly every competitive PA House race. 

• After every ballot was counted, we helped gain 12 new seats for a new majority in the Pennsylvania House. 
  • Three House candidates won their tossup seats, outperforming both President Biden’s 2020 results, and two outperforming Senator-elect John Fetterman. They were all also top performers in The States Project’s Door Knocking Challenge!
• Our investment —and the momentum we had built in the state since 2020 — paid off with new governing power in the House for the first time since 2010.

• In The States Project’s first cycle in Pennsylvania, we helped hold the ground gained by the minority since 2016, with +5 seats in the State Senate and +8 in the State House.
• We helped gain a new House district which had been held by Republicans ever since it was created in 1969.
• We also helped to gain a new seat in the Senate.