| Elections in Pennsylvania |
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 Government |
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania on November 3, 2020.[1] The office of the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth oversees the election process, including voting and vote counting.[2]
To vote by mail, registered Pennsylvania voters had to request a ballot by October 27, 2020.[3] As of early October some 2,568,084 voters requested mail ballots.[4]
On October 29, 2019, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed Act 77 by a vote of 138–61.[5] Later that day, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed Act 77 by a vote of 35–14.[6] Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 77 into law two days later.[7] The law enacted numerous changes to Pennsylvania's election code. Voters were allowed to request a mail-in ballot without providing a reason.[7] A person could register to vote up to 15 days before an election and vote in that election, instead of the previous 30-day period.[7] It said that mail-in ballots and absentee ballots would be valid if received by 8 p.m. on election day.[7] The law eliminated the option of pushing one button to vote for all candidates of the same party, called straight-ticket voting; instead, a voter would need to select each candidate in order to vote the same way.[7] The law said the state would cover up to 60 percent of the cost for counties to replace their voting machines with systems that had voter-verifiable paper.[7] Governor Wolf described the changes as the "most significant improvement to Pennsylvania’s elections in more than 80 years".[8]
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate both unanimously passed Act 12 on March 25, 2020,[9][10] and Gov. Wolf signed it into law two days later.[11] Act 12 delayed the primary election from April 28 to June 2. Act 12 also allowed counties to begin counting ballots at 7 a.m. on election day rather than being required to wait until 8 p.m. to do so.[12]
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Main article: 2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania had 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College.[13] Incumbent Republican Donald Trump won the state in 2016 with 48.2% of the vote.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joe Biden | 3,458,229 | 50.01 | ||
| Republican | Donald Trump (incumbent) | 3,377,674 | 48.84 | ||
| Libertarian | Jo Jorgensen | 79,380 | 1.15 | ||
| Total votes | 6,915,283 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic win | |||||
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Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania |
Voters in Pennsylvania elected 18 candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the 18 congressional districts.[14]
| District | Democratic nominee | Republican nominee | Libertarian nominee | Independent candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | Christina Finello | Brian Fitzpatrick, incumbent | Steve Scheetz (write-in) | |
| District 2 | Brendan Boyle, incumbent | David Torres | ||
| District 3 | Dwight Evans, incumbent | Michael Harvey | ||
| District 4 | Madeleine Dean, incumbent | Kathy Bernette | Joe Tarshish (write-in) | |
| District 5 | Mary Gay Scanlon, incumbent | Dasha Pruett | ||
| District 6 | Chrissy Houlahan, incumbent | John Emmons | John H. McHugh (write-in) | |
| District 7 | Susan Wild, incumbent | Lisa Scheller | Anthony Sayegh (write-in) | |
| District 8 | Matt Cartwright, incumbent | Jim Bognet | ||
| District 9 | Gary Wegman | Dan Meuser, incumbent | ||
| District 10 | Eugene DePasquale | Scott Perry, incumbent | ||
| District 11 | Sarah Hammond | Lloyd Smucker, incumbent | ||
| District 12 | Lee Griffin | Fred Keller, incumbent | Elizabeth Terwilliger (write-in) | |
| District 13 | Todd Rowley | John Joyce, incumbent | ||
| District 14 | William Marx | Guy Reschenthaler, incumbent | ||
| District 15 | Robert Williams Ronnie Ray Jenkins (write-in) |
Glenn Thompson, incumbent | ||
| District 16 | Kristy Gnibus | Mike Kelly, incumbent | ||
| District 17 | Conor Lamb, incumbent | Sean Parnell | ||
| District 18 | Michael Doyle, incumbent | Luke Negron | Donald Nevills (write-in) Daniel Vayda (write-in) |
Three executive offices were up for election in Pennsylvania's general election: auditor general, attorney general, and treasurer.[15]
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Main article: 2020 Pennsylvania Attorney General election |
Incumbent Democratic attorney general Josh Shapiro ran for re-election to a second term. He was first elected in 2016 with 51.4% of the vote.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Josh Shapiro (incumbent) | 3,461,472 | 50.85 | |
| Republican | Heather Heidelbaugh | 3,153,831 | 46.33 | |
| Libertarian | Daniel Wassmer | 120,489 | 1.77 | |
| Green | Richard Weiss | 70,804 | 1.04 | |
| Total votes | 6,806,596 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
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Main article: 2020 Pennsylvania State Treasurer election |
Incumbent Democratic treasurer Joe Torsella ran for re-election to a second term. He was first elected in 2016 with 50.7% of the vote. He lost re-election to businesswoman and retired U.S. Army Colonel Stacy Garrity.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Stacy Garrity | 3,291,877 | 48.68 | |
| Democratic | Joe Torsella (incumbent) | 3,239,331 | 47.91 | |
| Libertarian | Joseph Soloski | 148,614 | 2.20 | |
| Green | Timothy Runkle | 81,984 | 1.21 | |
| Total votes | 6,761,806 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
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Main article: 2020 Pennsylvania Auditor General election |
Incumbent Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale was term-limited and ineligible to seek a third consecutive term. He was re-elected in 2016 with 50.0% of the vote. Dauphin County controller Timothy DeFoor won the election against former Philadelphia deputy mayor Nina Ahmad.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Timothy DeFoor | 3,338,009 | 49.44 | |
| Democratic | Nina Ahmad | 3,129,131 | 46.35 | |
| Libertarian | Jennifer Moore | 205,929 | 3.05 | |
| Green | Olivia Faison | 78,588 | 1.16 | |
| Total votes | 6,751,657 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
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Main article: 2020 Pennsylvania Senate election |
25 of 50 seats (odd-numbered districts) in the Pennsylvania Senate were up for election in Pennsylvania's general election.[16]
A special election was also held on January 14 in the 48th senatorial district after the resignation of Republican senator Mike Folmer.
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Main article: 2020 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election |
All 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were up for election in the general election.[17]
Special elections were held for the 8th, 18th, 58th, and 190th districts prior to the general election.
There were no statewide ballot measures up for election in this general election; however, there were local ballot measures in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.[18]