special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held on May 21, 2019, to fill the remainder of the term for in 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 ...

for the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...

Tom Marino Thomas Anthony Marino (born August 13, 1952) is an American politician and attorney, who served as a United States House of Representatives, United States Representative from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2019. He represented the from January 3, 20 ...

, a Republican, resigned from office effective January 23.

Background

As a result of the

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

, Pennsylvania's House delegation to the 116th U.S. Congress took office in early January 2019 with a tie of 9 Republicans and 9 Democrats. Republican

, the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

representative for , announced his resignation effective January 23, 2019. By state law,

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 ...

was required to call for a special election at least 60 days after the seat became vacant. Wolf set the election for May 21. Primary elections were not held in the race. Instead, nominees were chosen by each party. Republicans selected their nominee on March 2.

Republican conferee meeting

Candidates

Nominee

* Fred Keller, state representative

Defeated at the convention

*Jessica Bowman-Hosley, professor *Malcolm Derk, former

Snyder County Snyder County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,736. The county seat is Middleburg, Pennsylvania, Middlebu ...

commissioner *Kevin Ferrara, veteran * Stacy Garrity, businesswoman *Davis C. Haire, doctor *Chris Hoffman, vice president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau *Matthew McDermott *Doug McLinko, Bradford County commissioner and candidate for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in 2018 *Patrick Miller, law student *Maria Montero *Joseph Moralez, vice president of a statewide nursing agency *Robert Noerr, former National Debate Tournament qualifier *Joseph Peters, former state deputy attorney general and candidate for

Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district is located in the Northeastern Pennsylvania, northeastern region of the state. It encompasses all of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, Wayne, Pike County, Pennsylvania, Pike, and Lackawanna County, Pennsylvani ...

in 2018

Withdrawn

*Christopher Bain *James Canning, businessman and constable *Gerald Carlin, businessman *Brian Fuller, activist *Bobby Jeffries *Dale McElhattan *Chuck Risio *Matthew Timm * Jeff Wheeland, state representative *Matthew Zeigler, lawyer

Declined to run

Lou Barletta Louis John Barletta (born January 28, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, former U.S. Representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* Jake Corman, majority leader of 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, stagger ...

*Keith Eckel, former president of the State Farm Bureau * Jonathan Fritz, state representative *Davis C. Haire * Sandra Major, former state representative *Tony Mussare, Lycoming County commissioner * Michael Peifer, state representative * Mario Scavello, state senator *Jeff Stroehmann, businessman *Dave Weber, district director for outgoing U.S. Representative

* Eugene Yaw, state senator

Democratic selection

According to the

Pennsylvania Democratic Party The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg and is the largest political party in the state. Its chair is Senator Sharif Street. As of 2025, i ...

, Marc Friedenberg, the Democratic nominee for the district in 2018, was the only individual who submitted an application to be the nominee. Therefore, the convention was cancelled, and the party declared Friedenberg the nominee on February 12.

General election

Endorsements

Debates

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Marc Friedenberg (D) for Congress

Fred Keller (R) for Congress
{{2019 United States elections Pennsylvania 12 Pennsylvania 2019 12 United States House of Representatives 12 2019 12 Pennsylvania 2019 12 United States House of Representatives 2019 12 Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district special election