The 2018 elections for the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

were held on November 6, 2018, with 25 of 50 districts being contested.

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held on May 15, 2018. The term of office for those elected in 2018 began when the Senate convened in January 2019. Pennsylvania State Senators are elected for four-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every two years. Republicans have controlled the chamber since the 1994 election ( years).

Overview

Republicans have controlled the chamber for years (since the 1994 election). Democrats won five seats but failed to retake the majority despite winning the popular vote by over 200,000 votes. However, in five contests a Democrat ran unopposed with no Republicans appearing on the ballot. Republican senator Randy Vulakovich of the 38th district was the only incumbent to be defeated in the primary elections, losing to Jeremy Shaffer, who in turn lost to Democratic candidate Lindsey Williams in the general election. Two other Republican incumbents – Thomas J. McGarrigle and

John Rafferty Jr. John Rafferty Jr. (born February 7, 1953) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who had represented the 44th District from 2003 to 2019. He was the Republican nominee for Attorney General of P ...

– were also defeated in the general election by their Democratic challengers (Timothy P. Kearney and

Katie Muth Katie J. Muth is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 44th District. Her district includes portions of northeastern Chester and southwestern Montgomery and Berks Counties. ...

, respectively). In the 10th district, Republican

Chuck McIlhinney Charles T. McIlhinney Jr. (born May 19, 1967) is a Republican former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 10th District from 2007 to 2019. Previously, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1998 ...

chose to retire, and his seat was won by Democrat

Steve Santarsiero Steven J. Santarsiero is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate and former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He represented the 31st District between 2009 and 2017. Most recently, he served as Chief Deputy A ...

, while in the 12th district, Republican

Stewart Greenleaf Stewart John Greenleaf Sr. (October 4, 1939 – February 9, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1979 to 2019. Greenleaf represented the 12th District, which includes portion ...

retired and was replaced by Democrat

Maria Collett Maria Collett (born July 21, 1974) is a Greek-born American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who represents the 12th District. Her district includes portions of eastern Montgomery County and southern ...

Close races

Ten district races had winning margins of less than 15%:

Controversy

Democrat Lindsey Williams defeated Republican Jeremy Shaffer in the 38th District, a seat previously held by Republican Randy Vulakovich. After the election, Senate Republicans questioned whether Williams met the State-Constitutional requirement to be a "citizen and inhabitant" of Pennsylvania for four years prior to the election, as she claimed to have moved to Pennsylvania exactly four years prior to her election. After weeks of speculation and rumors of the GOP majority planning to refuse to seat her, Senate Majority Leader

Joe Scarnati Joseph B. Scarnati III (born January 2, 1962) is an American politician from the U.S. State of Pennsylvania. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Pennsylvania State Senate as the member from the 25th District from 2001 to 2020, an ...

announced that he would recommend that she be seated. This announcement came after Williams provided proof that she had accepted a job in Pennsylvania on November 2, 2014. Ultimately, Williams was sworn in with the rest of the senators without any objection.

Results

Source:

Pennsylvania Department of State The Pennsylvania Department of State is a cabinet-level state agency in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The department is headed by the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Responsibilities *Campaign finance reporting *Charities *Cor ...

References

{{reflist 2018 Pennsylvania elections Pennsylvania Senate elections

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...