The 2016 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

to represent the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in numerous other states and

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on April 26. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. represen ...

was reelected to a second term in a close race, defeating Democratic nominee

Katie McGinty Kathleen Alana McGinty (born May 11, 1963) is a retired American politician and former state and federal environmental policy official. She served as an environmental advisor to Vice President Al Gore and President Bill Clinton. Later, she served ...

and Libertarian Party nominee Edward Clifford. If McGinty had won, she would have become Pennsylvania's first female U.S. Senator. With a margin of 1.43%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2016 Senate election cycle, behind only the election in New Hampshire.

Background

Five-term senator

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

, a longtime moderate Republican, switched to the Democratic Party in April 2009, and ran for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by U.S. Representative and former U.S. Navy three-star admiral

Joe Sestak Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2 ...

. After a close race, Sestak lost the general election to former U.S. Representative

by 51% to 49%, a margin of 80,229 votes out of almost 4 million cast. Toomey had previously run for the seat in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, narrowly losing to Specter in the Republican primary. Specter later died in 2012. After the Republicans took control of the Senate following the 2014 Senate elections, the election in Pennsylvania was seen by many as a top target for the Democrats, who hoped to regain their majority. Katie McGinty, who won the Democratic primary, was one of 160 candidates endorsed by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. McGinty got her start in politics after winning the Congressional Fellowship of the American Chemical Society, leading to a position with then Senator

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

. In 1993 she was appointed deputy assistant and then chair of the White House Council of Environmental Quality under

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. She then went on to be appointed head of the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws ...

by Governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician, author, and former prosecutor who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2 ...

in 2003. McGinty faced 2010 nominee Sestask and Mayor of Braddock, future

Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania The lieutenant governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor of Pennsylvania, governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutena ...

and holder of this Senate seat

John Fetterman John Karl Fetterman ( ; born August 15, 1969) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2006 to 2019 as the mayor o ...

in the primary.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

, former chief of staff to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2023. He previously served as chairman and CEO of his business, The Wolf Organization, and l ...

, former Secretary of the

and candidate for the governorship in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Eliminated in primary

, Mayor of Braddock *

, retired navy admiral, former U.S. Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Joseph Vodvarka, small business owner and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Declined

* Bob Brady, U.S. Representative and chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee (endorsed Katie McGinty) * Chris Carney, former U.S. Representative *

Matt Cartwright Matthew Alton Cartwright (born May 1, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2025. The district includes a large swath of northeastern Pennsylvania, anchored by Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, ...

, U.S. Representative (endorsed Joe Sestak) *

Kathy Dahlkemper Kathleen Ann Dahlkemper (née Steenberge; born December 10, 1957) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania in 2013 and served ...

, Erie County

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and former U.S. Representative (endorsed Katie McGinty) * Eugene DePasquale, Pennsylvania Auditor General ( running for re-election) * Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive (endorsed Katie McGinty) * David Hickton,

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania * Vincent Hughes, state senator (endorsed Katie McGinty) * Kathleen Kane,

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

Rob McCord Robert Maxwell McCord (born March 5, 1959) is an American former politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Gove ...

, former Pennsylvania Treasurer and candidate for the governorship in

* Patrick Murphy, former U.S. Representative and candidate for attorney general in

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he is also a former member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 4th di ...

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker, who is the first woman to hold the ...

(endorsed Katie McGinty) *

, former

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

(endorsed Katie McGinty) *

Allyson Schwartz Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast an ...

, former U.S. Representative and candidate for the governorship in

Josh Shapiro Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the attorney general of Pen ...

, chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and former state representative ( running for attorney general) * Joe Torsella, United States Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform and former chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education (running for state treasurer) * R. Seth Williams,

District Attorney of Philadelphia The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The curre ...

Endorsements

Debates

A debate hosted by Carnegie Mellon University's

Heinz College The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, also known as Heinz College, is the public policy and information college of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It consists of the School of Information Systems and ...

in association with the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club featuring John Fetterman, Katie McGinty, and Joe Sestak occurred on January 31 at Rangos Hall in Jared L. Cohon University Center, Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh. A debate hosted by Keystone Progress featuring John Fetterman, Katie McGinty, and Joe Sestak occurred on February 19 at the Hilton Harrisburg, in the Harrisburg Ballroom, in Harrisburg.

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* Edward T. "Ed" Clifford, III (L), accountant *

(D), former chief of staff to

, former

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the

and candidate for governor in

(R), incumbent

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Erie (largest municipality: Erie) * Luzerne (largest municipality:

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. ...

)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Lehigh (largest municipality:

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

) *

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

(largest municipality: East Stroudsburg)

Notes

References

External links

Official campaign websites *
Katie McGinty (D) for Senate
{{2016 United States elections

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Background

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Endorsements

Debates

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

References

External links