Pennsylvania elections could look very different if Democrats win full control of state government in 2026
Pennsylvania elections could look very different if Democrats win full control of state government in 2026
The movement to change voting laws in Pennsylvania is all but dead, reports.
Despite bipartisan support for changes in Harrisburg, no major election bill has become law since the state implemented in 2020. The issue has become deeply partisan since then. Bills routinely pass either the GOP-controlled state Senate or Democratic-controlled state House, then wither in the other chamber. And a on bipartisan solutions sits idle.
But could that change if Democrats win a state government trifecta â control of the state Senate, state House, and governorship â this fall? And what policies would they prioritize?
Republicans have controlled all three for stretches in recent decades, most recently from 2011 to 2014. During that period, they passed that was ultimately . Democrats in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, havenât held both chambers and the governorship since 1993. Even then, the trifecta lasted just one year.
But a path, though difficult, exists for Democrats to regain unified control in Novemberâs midterm elections.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro leads state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, his Republican challenger, by more than 20 points in .
Democrats would also have to maintain their narrow majority in the House and flip the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 27-23 majority. That would require them to retain and pick up new ones in potentially vulnerable districts in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia suburbs.
Democrats have reason to think those seats are within reach. holds that when a sitting president has , the opposing political party tends to have a good year in the midterms.
If Democrats succeed, they could have an easier time passing election law changes that have eluded them in recent years.
They may also face political pressure from their base to go further and pursue the kind of partisan mid-decade redistricting that other states under single-party control, like Texas and California, have recently undertaken.
Pennsylvania Democrats showed their election priorities this legislative session
Democrats have made it clear during this legislative session where their election priorities lie.
Last May, the state House sponsored by Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton that would have significantly reshaped Pennsylvania elections.
The bill would have established true in-person early voting, instead of the current, time-consuming process of requesting and casting a mail ballot at a local election office; mandated at least two mail ballot drop boxes in every county; and required counties to adopt by 2027.
It also would have given counties more time to prepare mail ballots for counting before Election Day. Advocates say this preparation, known as pre-canvassing, leads to faster election results. The state House also recently passed pre-canvassing .
Earlier this month, at , McClinton again called on the state Senate to consider her omnibus bill.
âWeâll have everything necessary so that we can continue to lift up our voices in this democracy,â she said of how things would look if her bill passed.
State Sen. Jay Costa, the Senate minority leader, responded to McClintonâs call , saying Senate Democrats were ready to take up the bill. But the bill hasnât come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate because GOP leaders have insisted that any election legislation include expanded voter ID requirements.
Asked how the election policy conversation would change under a Democratic-led Senate, Costa highlighted many of the issues covered in McClintonâs bill as well as other Democratic priorities: pre-canvassing, drop boxes, electronic pollbooks, preregistering voters who will be 18 by Election Day, early voting, and same-day voter registration.
He also mentioned opening up Pennsylvaniaâs primaries to independent and third-party voters. Itâs a proposal that has been gaining some in recent years.
âWe want to make it easier for people to vote, but also have a system that has integrity,â Costa said.
Costa added that if Democrats pass these proposals next session, they would also try to provide counties with funding to implement them.
McClintonâs bill also included funding to help counties implement the changes. It up to $60 million in bonds for new equipment, provide $2 million for electronic pollbook vetting and approval, and designate about $100,000 annually, plus benefits, to pay a new staffer.
Would election changes be a priority for Democrats?
Should Democrats win a trifecta, they would surely have a lot of things other than election policy on their wish list. But Kyler Miller, a former Democratic Senate staffer who now works as a policy advocate with the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy, thinks that election legislation would be fairly close to the top â perhaps even in the top three.
Miller said President Donald Trumpâs attacks on voting have elevated the issue for Democrats, pointing to the Department of Justiceâs election materials and voter rolls, as well as threats to reject .
âThat playbook that is being deployed against American elections is very much a top issue for the Dems and their electorate,â he said. âPeople have fought for years for the right to vote, and itâs being slowly eroded over time by the administration and the Supreme Court.â
Miller agreed that a Democratic trifecta would likely focus on passing priorities theyâve already identified, such as pre-canvassing and codifying certain court rulings.
State courts in recent years have if election officials determine their ballots will be rejected due to a fixable error. They have also affirmed votersâ right to if their mail ballot is rejected. Voting rights advocates cheered both decisions, but both advocates and jurists have expressed frustration that the legislature did not clarify those ambiguities itself.
Miller also said the state should provide more funding for election officialsâ safety and training, given the exodus of experienced local officials in recent years.
Could Democrats try to redraw Pennsylvaniaâs congressional map?
With full control over state government, Democrats would also have the ability to redraw Pennsylvaniaâs congressional map to better advantage their party.
The current map, selected in 2022 after a partisan deadlock in the legislature, elected 10 Republican representatives and seven Democrats to Congress in 2024. However, itâs possible to draw a map with as many as .
Over the past year, several other states, including and , have redrawn their congressional lines as part of an .
Last year, he was not pursuing mid-decade redistricting and called Texasâs redraw âshameful.â
A spokesperson for Shapiroâs campaign didnât respond to questions about whether Shapiro would pursue partisan redistricting if Democrats won a trifecta or what specific election law priorities he would pursue. But press secretary Sam Reposa said in a statement that the Republican grip on power has been an impediment to election law changes more broadly.
âFor over 30 years in the majority, Senate Republicans have stood in the way of more progress we could be making in the Commonwealth,â Reposa said, specifically citing âpassing key reforms to protect our democracy.â
Erica Clayton-Wright, a spokesperson for state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, responded in an email that Senate Republicans are the âlast line of defenseâ protecting taxpayers on a variety of issues, including âsafeguarding elections.â
âPennsylvanians know [Democratic] policies are detrimental to positioning our Commonwealth for growth, which will prevent a trifecta in Pennsylvania,â she said.
Even if a Democratic trifecta did redraw Pennsylvaniaâs congressional map, it would likely face a court challenge. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court that partisan gerrymandering violated the state constitution when it threw out a GOP-drawn congressional map.
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