203 seats up for election in Pennsylvania House on Nov. 5

Elections for all 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will take place on November 5, 2024. Pennsylvania is one of 44 states holding legislative elections in 2024.

Heading into the 2024 elections, Democrats have a 102-101 majority. Democrats gained control of the state House in 2022. Republicans had controlled the chamber since 2011.

Democrats must lose zero seats in 2024 to retain control of the chamber. Republicans must gain at least one seat to gain control of the chamber.

Pennsylvania is one of 10 states with a divided government at the time of the 2024 elections. Democrats control the governorship and the state House, while Republicans control the state Senate. If Democrats gain control of the state Senate and maintain control of the state House in 2024, Pennsylvania’s government would become a Democratic trifecta. If Republicans maintain control of the state Senate or gain control of the state House, Pennsylvania’s government would remain divided.

A pair of resignations on July 17, 2024, left Republicans with more seats than Democrats in the chamber. However, a rule adopted in July 2023 defined the majority party as “the political party that won the greater number of elections for the 203 seats in the House of Representatives in the general election preceding the term of service that began on the first day of December next after the general election.” Because of this rule, Democrats maintained their majority. Two Democrats—Andre Carroll and Keith Harris—were elected unopposed in special elections to fill the vacancies.

The Associated Press’ Mark Scolforo wrote, “Pennsylvania’s legislative Republicans would like to pass additional voter ID requirements, restrict abortion and make election changes to improve their odds of winning judicial races. Democrats want to bump up the state’s minimum wage and widen civil rights for LGBTQ people. In the closely divided General Assembly, those proposals have gone nowhere.”

Both the Republican State Leadership Committee and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said they would make Pennsylvania’s state legislative elections a priority in 2024.

Ballotpedia identified 25 battleground districts. Democrats represent 12 of these battleground districts and Republicans represent 13. Incumbents are running in 20 of these races, while the other five are in open districts, meaning no incumbents are running. Click here to read more about the battleground elections.

Three incumbents lost in the primaries. Click here to learn more.