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United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania occur when voters in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania select an individual to represent the state in the United States Senate in either of the state's two seats allotted by the U.S. Constitution. Regularly scheduled general elections occur on Election Day, coinciding with various other federal, statewide, and local races.
Per the original text of the U.S. Constitution, each state was allotted two U.S. senators selected by the state legislature for staggered six-year terms. After the election of the founding members of the U.S. Senate in 1788, the Senate was divided into three groups, or "classes" (Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3) to stagger the six-year terms of its members. Per Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the founding members of Class 1 would serve two years, Class 2 four years, and Class 3 six years. All senators elected thereafter would serve full six-year terms such that one-third of the Senate would be up for re-election every two years.[1] Pennsylvania was assigned a Class 1 seat and a Class 3 seat.[2][3] Since the passage of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, U.S. senators are elected directly to six-year terms by the voters of each state at the general election held on Election Day. Special elections may be held to fill mid-term vacancies by electing an individual to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[4] The next Class 1 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania is scheduled for November 5, 2030, and the next Class 3 election in Pennsylvania is scheduled for November 7, 2028.
The list below contains election returns from all twenty Class 1 and twenty-one Class 3 post-17th Amendment U.S. Senate elections in Pennsylvania, including special elections, sorted by year and beginning with the first in 1914 and the most recent in 2024. Incumbent senators are listed as well as elected senators and runner(s)-up in each election, including major third-party candidates (garnering 5% or more of the popular vote). Parties are color-coded to the left of a Senator's or candidate's name according to the key below. The popular vote and percentage margins listed in the "Margin" column are the differences between the total votes received and percentage of the popular vote received by the top two finishers in the corresponding election (i.e. the margin-of-victory of an elected Senator over the nearest competitor).
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- Parties[note 1]
Independent Democratic Republican Prohibition Progressive Party (1924) Progressive Party (1912)
Class 1
County-level results of previous two Class 1 Senate elections
2018 election, between Bob Casey, Jr. (blue) and Lou Barletta (red)
2024 election, between Dave McCormick (red) and Bob Casey, Jr. (blue)
| Election* | Incumbent Senator | Elected Senator | Votes | Runner(s)-up | Votes | Margin | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | George T. Oliver | Philander C. Knox | 680,451 (56.36%) | Ellis L. Orvis | 450,106 (37.28%) | 230,345 (19.08%) | [5] | |||
| 1922* | David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 860,483 (86.15%) | Others | 138,377 (13.85%) | — | [6] [note 2] | |||
| David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 802,146 (56.04%) | Samuel E. Shull | 423,583 (29.59%) | 378,563 (26.45%) | |||||
| William J. Burke | 127,180 (8.88%) | |||||||||
| 1928 | David A. Reed | David A. Reed | 1,948,646 (64.38%) | William N. McNair | 1,029,055 (34.00%) | 919,591 (30.38%) | [7] | |||
| 1934 | David A. Reed | Joseph F. Guffey | 1,494,001 (50.78%) | David A. Reed | 1,366,877 (46.46%) | 127,124 (4.32%) | [8] | |||
| 1940 | Joseph F. Guffey | Joseph F. Guffey | 2,069,980 (51.79%) | Jay Cooke | 1,893,104 (47.36%) | 176,876 (4.43%) | [9] | |||
| 1946 | Joseph F. Guffey | Edward Martin | 1,853,458 (59.26%) | Joseph F. Guffey | 1,245,338 (39.81%) | 608,120 (19.45%) | [10] | |||
| 1952 | Edward Martin | Edward Martin | 2,331,034 (51.57%) | Guy K. Bard | 2,168,546 (47.98%) | 162,488 (3.59%) | [11] | |||
| 1958 | Edward Martin | Hugh Scott | 2,042,586 (51.21%) | George M. Leader | 1,929,821 (48.38%) | 112,765 (2.83%) | [12] | |||
| 1964 | Hugh Scott | Hugh Scott | 2,429,858 (50.64%) | Genevieve Blatt | 2,353,223 (49.05%) | 76,635 (1.59%) | [13] | |||
| 1970 | Hugh Scott | Hugh Scott | 1,874,106 (51.43%) | William Sesler | 1,653,774 (45.38%) | 220,332 (6.05%) | [14] | |||
| 1976 | Hugh Scott | John Heinz | 2,381,891 (52.39%) | William Green | 2,126,977 (46.78%) | 254,914 (5.61%) | [15] | |||
| 1982 | John Heinz | John Heinz | 2,136,418 (59.28%) | Cyril Wecht | 1,412,965 (39.20%) | 723,453 (20.08%) | [16] | |||
| 1988 | John Heinz | John Heinz | 2,901,715 (66.45%) | Joe Vignola | 1,416,764 (32.45%) | 1,484,951 (34.00%) | [17] | |||
| 1991* | Harris Wofford | Harris Wofford | 1,860,760 (55.01%) | Dick Thornburgh | 1,521,986 (44.99%) | 338,774 (10.02%) | [18] [note 3] | |||
| 1994 | Harris Wofford | Rick Santorum | 1,735,691 (49.40%) | Harris Wofford | 1,648,481 (46.92%) | 87,210 (2.48%) | [19] | |||
| 2000 | Rick Santorum | Rick Santorum | 2,481,962 (52.42%) | Ron Klink | 2,154,908 (45.51%) | 327,054 (6.91%) | [20] | |||
| 2006 | Rick Santorum | Bob Casey, Jr. | 2,392,984 (58.68%) | Rick Santorum | 1,684,778 (41.32%) | 708,206 (17.36%) | [21] | |||
| 2012 | Bob Casey, Jr. | Bob Casey, Jr. | 3,021,364 (53.69%) | Tom Smith | 2,509,132 (44.59%) | 512,232 (9.10%) | [22] | |||
| 2018 | Bob Casey, Jr. | Bob Casey, Jr. | 2,792,437 (55.74%) | Lou Barletta | 2,134,848 (42.62%) | 657,589 (13.12%) | [23] | |||
| 2024 | Bob Casey, Jr. | Dave McCormick | 3,399,295 (48.82%) | Bob Casey, Jr. | 3,384,180 (48.60%) | 15,115 (0.22%) | [24] | |||
Note: Asterisk (*) next to year denotes a special election.
Class 3
County-level results of previous two Class 3 Senate elections
2016 election, between Pat Toomey (red) and Katie McGinty (blue)
2022 election, between John Fetterman (blue) and Mehmet Oz (red)
| Election* | Incumbent Senator | Elected Senator | Votes | Runner(s)-up | Votes | Margin | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | Boies Penrose | Boies Penrose | 519,801 (46.75%) | Gifford Pinchot | 269,235 (24.22%) | 250,566 (22.53%) | [25] | |||
| A. Mitchell Palmer | 266,415 (23.96%) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Boies Penrose | Boies Penrose | 1,069,785 (59.98%) | John A. Farrell | 484,352 (24.22%) | 585,433 (35.76%) | [26] | |||
| Leah C. Marion | 132,610 (7.44%) | |||||||||
| 1922* | George W. Pepper | George W. Pepper | 819,507 (57.60%) | Fred Kerr | 468,330 (32.92%) | 351,177 (24.68%) | [27] [note 4] | |||
| 1926 | George W. Pepper | William S. Vare | 822,178 (54.64%) | William B. Wilson | 648,680 (43.11%) | 173,498 (11.53%) | [28] | |||
| 1930* | Joseph R. Grundy | James J. Davis | 1,462,186 (71.54%) | Sedgwick Kistler | 523,338 (25.61%) | 938,848 (45.93%) | [29] [note 5] | |||
| 1932 | James J. Davis | James J. Davis | 1,368,707 (49.35%) | Lawrence H. Rupp | 1,200,322 (43.28%) | 168,385 (6.07%) | [30] | |||
| 1938 | James J. Davis | James J. Davis | 2,086,932 (54.72%) | George H. Earle | 1,694,464 (43.11%) | 392,468 (11.61%) | [31] | |||
| 1944 | James J. Davis | Francis J. Myers | 1,864,735 (49.99%) | James J. Davis | 1,840,943 (49.35%) | 23,792 (0.64%) | [32] | |||
| 1950 | Francis J. Myers | James H. Duff | 1,820,400 (51.30%) | Francis J. Myers | 1,694,076 (47.74%) | 126,324 (3.56%) | [33] | |||
| 1956 | James H. Duff | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,268,641 (50.08%) | James H. Duff | 2,250,671 (49.69%) | 17,970 (0.39%) | [34] | |||
| 1962 | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,238,383 (51.06%) | James E. Van Zandt | 2,134,649 (48.70%) | 103,734 (2.36%) | [35] | |||
| 1968 | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | Richard Schweiker | 2,399,762 (51.90%) | Joseph S. Clark, Jr. | 2,117,662 (45.80%) | 282,100 (6.10%) | [36] | |||
| 1974 | Richard Schweiker | Richard Schweiker | 1,843,317 (53.00%) | Peter F. Flaherty | 1,596,121 (45.89%) | 247,196 (7.11%) | [37] | |||
| 1980 | Richard Schweiker | Arlen Specter | 2,230,404 (50.48%) | Peter F. Flaherty | 2,122,391 (48.04%) | 108,013 (2.44%) | [38] | |||
| 1986 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 1,906,537 (56.44%) | Robert W. Edgar | 1,448,219 (42.87%) | 458,318 (13.57%) | [39] | |||
| 1992 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 2,358,125 (49.10%) | Lynn Yeakel | 2,224,966 (46.33%) | 133,159 (2.77%) | [40] | |||
| 1998 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 1,814,180 (61.34%) | William R. Lloyd, Jr. | 1,028,839 (34.79%) | 785,341 (26.55%) | [41] | |||
| 2004 | Arlen Specter | Arlen Specter | 2,925,080 (52.62%) | Joe Hoeffel | 2,334,126 (41.99%) | 590,954 (10.63%) | [42] | |||
| 2010 | Arlen Specter | Pat Toomey | 2,028,945 (51.01%) | Joe Sestak | 1,948,716 (48.99%) | 80,229 (2.02%) | [43] [note 6] | |||
| 2016 | Pat Toomey | Pat Toomey | 2,951,702 (48.77%) | Kathleen McGinty | 2,865,012 (47.34%) | 86,690 (1.43%) | [44] | |||
| 2022 | Pat Toomey | John Fetterman | 2,751,012 (51.03%) | Mehmet Oz | 2,487,260 (46.03%) | 208,334 (4.04%) | [45] | |||
Note: Asterisk (*) next to year denotes a special election.
Notes
- As listed on the ballot and in election returns.
- In 1922, a special election and a regularly scheduled general election were held simultaneously for the Class 1 seat. David Reed had been appointed in August 1922 to fill the vacancy created by the death of William E. Crow (who had been appointed to fill a vacancy created by the death of Philander C. Knox) until the election of a successor. Reed was subsequently elected both to complete the term ending on March 4, 1923 (upper row), and to a full six-year term beginning on March 4, 1923 (lower row).
- John Heinz died in a mid-air collision between two aircraft, one of which he was aboard, in April 1991. Democrat Harris Wofford was appointed by Governor Robert P. Casey in May 1991 to fill the vacancy. He was subsequently elected to serve the remainder of Heinz's term in the special election of November 1991.
- In 1922, in addition to a special/general election for the Class 1 seat, a special election for the Class 3 seat was held. George W. Pepper was appointed by Governor William Sproul to fill the vacancy following the death of Boies Penrose in December 1921. Pepper was subsequently elected in 1922 to serve the remainder of Penrose's term.
- Although William S. Vare won the 1926 election, his victory was controversial and overshadowed by scandal. As a result, Governor Gifford Pinchot refused to certify the results and Vare (having never been sworn-in) was formally unseated by the U.S. Senate in December 1929. Joseph R. Grundy was appointed later that month by Governor John S. Fisher to fill the vacancy until the next election.
- Specter changed party registration from Republican to Democratic in April 2009. He subsequently lost the primary election to Sestak.
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Class 1 results from 1916 to 2024
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1916
1922 (special)
1922
1928
1934
1940
1946
1952
1958
1964
1970
1976
1982
1988
1991 (special)
1994
2000
2006
2012
2018
2024
- Republican
- Major Third Party (>5%)
- Other
- Democratic
Class 3 results from 1914 to 2022
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1914
1920
1922 (special)
1926
1930 (special)
1932
1938
1944
1950
1956
1962
1968
1974
1980
1986
1992
1998
2004
2010
2016
2022
- Republican
- Major Third Party (>5%)
- Other
- Democratic
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