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Get in Philly, we’re going voting.
May 17 is Election Day, and the spring primary has a very dense ballot.
At the top of the ticket for both major parties is the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat left open by Pat Toomey’s retirement. Then there’s the gubernatorial contest, where Democrats are fielding just one candidate but Republicans will choose from several contenders. A slew of down-ballot races will determine the composition of the Pa. General Assembly.
In Philly, there are four charter change questions that could make the city’s governing documents more gender-inclusive, change how zoning appeals are judged, and codify the board that oversees fair housing laws. There’s also a special election to fill Northeast Philly’s City Council seat, empty after a federal corruption trial.
Even the most plugged-in voter might be overwhelmed by the number of candidates in this year’s races.
Good news: the Billy Penn procrastinator’s guide is here to help. Take a look through this article, then bookmark it for reference as you fill out your mail ballot or head to the polls.
Have questions that aren’t answered here? Let us know at tips@billypenn.com.
Important note: Pennsylvania holds closed primaries, which means you can only cast votes for candidates in your registered party. Everyone gets a say on the charter change questions, though, including unaffiliated voters.
Your polling place
Are you registered? You can find your status with the state lookup tool here.
Where do you vote? Find that by entering your address here, which will also have info about what ward and division you’re in.
If you plan on voting in person, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.. And like the meme says, if you’re in line by the end of the night, stay in line — as long as you’re queued up by 8 o’clock you’ll be able to cast a ballot.
Another heads up: You only need to show identification if you’re voting at a specific polling location for the first time.
Mail ballots
Under current laws, you do not need a reason or excuse to vote by mail in Pennsylvania.
If you already have your mail ballot, you can drop it off at 16 secure drop box locations around the city, or attend one of the City Commissioners’ drop-off events.
What if you applied for one, but didn’t get it? For starters, check the status of your mail ballot with the Department of State’s online tracker. If the status is “Canceled,” that means the U.S Postal Service ran into issues and ended up canceling your delivery, so you’ll want to request a replacement.
The quickest way to get a replacement is to request one in person at the Board of Elections office in City Hall, Room 140, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You have the option of filling out and submitting your voted ballot right then and there.
You can also request a replacement mail ballot by filling out a form on the City Commissioner’s website, or calling 215-686-3469. Replacement requests can be made through Election Day.
Never got your replacement and it’s already Election Day? Head to your polling place and ask for a provisional ballot, which will be counted after local election officials verify you didn’t vote by mail.
All mail ballots must be delivered to a drop box or otherwise received by election officials by the time the polls close: 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 17.
Have a mail ballot but want to vote in person? Bring it with you to the polls — including all the envelopes — and surrender it to the election workers.
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The U.S. Senate has a Pennsylvania seat open after Pat Toomey, a Republican, announced he would not be seeking reelection. Six candidates in a crowded Republican primary are hoping to keep the seat red. And four Democrats, two from Western Pa. and two from the Philly area, are vying for a chance to turn it blue. The primary race has both parties divided at the state level — neither the Pa. GOP nor the Pa. Dems could agree on a candidate to back.
Alex Khalil (Democrat)
Khalil is a member of the Jenkintown Borough Council in Montgomery County. She has pledged not to accept donations of more than $200 from developers or executives of any major corporations. Her issues of interest include health care, food insecurity, inclusive education and economic justice.
Priorities:
- Medicare for All
- Legalization of marijuana
- $15 minimum wage
→ Campaign site is here
Conor Lamb (Democrat)
Lamb, seen as a moderate candidate, is a former federal prosecutor, He’s currently a member of the U.S. House representing Pa.’s 17th Congressional District, a district Trump carried in 2016. Lamb won his House seat in a March 2018 special election, then held onto it in 2018 and 2020. The Philadelphia Democratic Party has endorsed him, and so have numerous unions and elected officials, plus The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Three priorities
- Supporting Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry
- Eliminating or reforming the filibuster
- $15 minimum wage
→ Campaign site is here
Malcolm Kenyatta (Democrat)
Kenyatta, whose profile was raised during the 2020 election when he was an early supporter of Joe Biden, still lives in the same North Philly neighborhood where he grew up. He currently serves as a member of the Pa. House, where he has argued for raising the minimum wage, protecting workers’ rights and stopping gun violence. He is endorsed by the Working Families Party, area teachers unions, and a number of elected officials.
Priorities:
- Making health care and prescription drugs more affordable
- $15 minimum wage
- Protecting the Right to Organize Act
→ Campaign site is here
John Fetterman (Democrat)
Fetterman is currently lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and ran previously for U.S. Senate in 2016. Before that, he served as mayor of Western Pa. town Braddock for 13 years. He styles himself as untraditional, often dressing more casually than his opponents and leaning into social media. He has been scrutinized for a 2013 incident in which he pursued and pulled a shotgun on a Black man who was out for a jog, because he thought the man had been involved in a shooting.
Priorities:
- $15 minimum wage
- Legalizing marijuana
- Transitioning to clean energy
→ Campaign site is here
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Kathy Barnette (Republican)
Barnette is a veteran and a political commentator who appears regularly on conservative media outlets Newsmax and OANN. She wrote the book “Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America.” Barnette ran for Congress in 2020, and reportedly went on a hunt for voter fraud in her district after her loss. She is endorsed by state Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano as well as Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser under Donald Trump.
Three priorities
- Banning critical race theory
- Building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border
- Opposing vaccine and mask mandates
→ Campaign site is here
Mehmet Oz (Republican)
Oz is a surgeon and host of “The Dr. Oz Show.” He lived in New Jersey for decades and only recently moved to Montgomery County, though he reportedly still spends a great deal of time in the Garden State. He is endorsed by Donald Trump, as well as former energy secretary Rick Perry, Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, and conservative radio host John Fredericks.
Priorities:
- Overturning Biden Administration energy policies
- Building a border wall
- Making prescription drugs more affordable
→ Campaign site is here
George Bochetto (Republican)
Bochetto is a trial lawyer in Philadelphia who often takes on high-profile cases, such as opposing the removal of a Columbus statue from a South Philly park. He is vocally pro-law enforcement, and held his March campaign launch at the FOP Lodge 5 clubhouse in Northeast Philadelphia. He says he’s running because he worries about the “takeover of this country by radical progressives.”
Priorities:
- Increasing funding for law enforcement
- Creating a school choice program
- Expanding U.S. natural gas industry and tech manufacturing
→ Campaign site is here
Jeff Bartos (Republican)
Bartos is a real estate developer in Montgomery County. He was the 2018 Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. In 2020 he created the 30 Day Fund, a nonprofit that raised and distributed over $3 million to assist small businesses during the pandemic. He has been endorsed by Pa. Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a group of Republican county chairs, and elected officials throughout the state.
Priorities:
- Building a border wall
- Competing with China
- Opposing attempts to defund the police
→ Campaign site is here
Dave McCormick
McCormick is a former hedge fund manager and a veteran who calls himself a political outsider, though he did serve in several senior administration positions for President George W. Bush. He was born in Pittsburgh and recently moved back to Pennsylvania after living in Connecticut for some time. There has been scrutiny of his hedge fund’s investments in China, while he lists “standing up to China” as one of his platform issues.
Priorities:
- Building a border wall
- Lowering taxes for working class
- Promoting natural gas production and pipelines
→ Campaign site is here
Sean Gale (Republican)
Gale is a lawyer from Montgomery County. He has been highly critical of outgoing senator Pat Toomey, calling him a Republican in name only. He has also vowed to oust Mitch McConnell as party leader in the Senate, if elected.
Priorities:
- Ending no-excuse mail voting
- Protecting gun rights
- Banning abortion with no exceptions
→ Campaign site is here
Carla Sands (Republican)
Sands is a Cumberland County businesswoman who was President Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. She also served on Trump’s Economic Advisory Council. She wants to be Pennsylvania’s “unwavering energy senator” and increase natural gas production.
Priorities:
- Gun rights
- Building a border wall
- Banning critical race theory
→ Campaign site is here
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Each of Philadelphia’s congressional seats will be contested in the November election, but the only contested primary is for the 3rd District’s Democratic nomination. The ultimate winners of the races in November will go on to serve a two-year term representing Philly in D.C.
2nd District
Brendan Boyle (Democrat, incumbent)
Born and raised in Olney, Boyle’s been involved in politics for over a decade. He represented a typically Republican-voting Northeast Philly district in the Pa. House from 2009 to 2015, and has represented part of Philadelphia in Congress since 2015.
As a Congressman, Boyle co-chairs the Blue Collar Caucus, the Macedonia Caucus, and several others, and he’s a member of the House Budget Committee and Ways and Means. He’s sponsored bills to nationally regulate levels of PFAS in drinking water and to establish Harriett Tubman Day as a federal holiday. He also called for investigation and potential sanctioning of House members claiming election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Boyle has been endorsed by organizations like the Progressive Turnout Project, the Sierra Club, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Priorities:
- Budget: Boyle has called for debt ceiling reform, and he’s introduced a bill to give the Secretary of the Treasury the ability to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally.
- Health care: Boyle has sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to expand coverage for lung cancer screenings for younger patients, to prohibit hospitals from closing without following a Department of Health and Human Services-approved plan, and to cover home-based extended care under Medicare.
- Energy: Boyle has supported creating new jobs in alternative energy, setting clean water standards, funding wildlife conservation, and funding protection of the Delaware River Basin.
→ Campaign site is here
Aaron Bashir (Republican)
Bashir’s campaign seeks to center “God, family, freedom and core American values.” Originally from Pakistan, Bashir came to the U.S. in 2001 and became a citizen in 2006. He’s attended the Community College of Philadelphia, Temple University, and La Salle University, according to his website, and has been an accountant, real estate investor, entrepreneur, and adjunct faculty member.
Bashir was the Republican nominee for the 172nd state legislative district in 2020, but lost in November to Brendan Boyle’s brother, Kevin. Though he announced on Facebook last year that he’d be pursuing election in the 172nd again in 2022, the new district lines didn’t work out for him, so he apparently decided to challenge the other Boyle instead. He has been endorsed by the Philadelphia GOP.
Priorities:
- Lower taxes and smaller government
- Creating and sustaining jobs: Bashir says he’d work toward creating IT, trade, and energy-related jobs, as well as advocate for small businesses, working families, and “America first” policies.
- Safer neighborhoods: Bashir’s proposed strategy for violence and crime reduction involves “community engagements to find common sense solutions of our problems with insights from all the stakeholders.”
→ Campaign site is here
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3rd District
Dwight Evans (Democrat, incumbent)
Evans’ website brands him as a “pragmatic leader who knows how to put public policy above politics and make ideas matter.” An alum of Germantown High School, the Community College of Philadelphia, La Salle, and Temple, Evans was a public school teacher and then worked for the Urban League of Philadelphia before he got into politics. Following nearly four decades as a Pa. state representative, Evans’ time in Congress began in 2016. His district is one of the most Democratic congressional districts in the country, as the lines are currently drawn.
In Congress, Evans is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Small Business Committee. During his first term, he introduced a bill to reduce costs for small business owners who apply for loans through the Small Business Administration, which ended up becoming law. Recently, he’s introduced a plan to tackle gun violence through $51 billion wrapped into the currently-stalled Build Back Better Act and VICTIM Act. His campaign has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Progressive Turnout Project, and the Sierra Club.
Priorities:
- Resurrecting Build Back Better: Evans wants to “[breathe] life back into” another version of the Build Back Better bill that tackles a handful of issues longer-term, including the Child Tax Credit, the ability to negotiate drug prices, and climate change-related issues.
- Affordable housing: Evans supports finding more resources to fund and build additional affordable housing, limiting the ability of hedge funds to buy up real estate, updating zoning codes, and increasing density in neighborhood centers.
- Tackling gun violence: Evans supports community policing, as well as increasing funding for staffing, forensic technology, and social work and mental health professionals to assist police departments.
→ Campaign site is here
Alexandra Hunt (Democrat)
Hunt, a 28-year-old public health researcher who grew up in Rochester, New York, has looked to position herself as a progressive alternative. She first came to Philadelphia for a graduate program at Drexel and earned a masters of public health at Temple in 2020. She says she believes politicians “should fight for systemic change.”
Hunt has garnered national attention for her college gig as a stripper, and she hasn’t been shy about that piece of her past. Her campaign’s online store sells t-shirts with slogans like “Elect Hoes” and “I may have danced for money but I’m no corporate whore,” and she’s said she hopes her campaign can draw attention to the needs of sex workers, who are often marginalized. Her campaign has been endorsed by former Democratic primary candidate Marianne Williamson, Penn Justice Democrats, and the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.
Priorities:
- Climate: Hunt supports the Green New Deal, green public housing projects, and increasing protections for national parks, oceans, and endangered species.
- Health care: Hunt is in favor of Medicare for All, retroactive monthly survival checks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and importation of low-cost prescription drugs from other countries.
- Education reform: Hunt supports debt-free public college, ending federal zero-tolerance policies, raising the minimum teacher wage, and increasing federal investment in public schools.
→ Campaign site is here
Michael Cogbill (Democrat)
Cogbill says he’s running for Congress to “light the way for a new direction in America” that involves standing up to powerful institutions, special interests, “self-serving corporate Democrats,” and “batshit crazy Republicans that attack our civil rights, voting rights, and our reproductive rights.”
Cogbill’s resume includes being a labor organizer for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, a community organizer for CeasefirePA, a Democratic political operative, and a civic engagement director for the NAACP.
Priorities:
- Gun violence prevention: Cogbill believes in holding gun manufacturers accountable for “mass-producing weapons of destruction,” expanding background checks on gun sales, and increasing funding for research, training, and programming for impacted communities
- The economy and job creation: Cogbill supports the freedom to unionize, raising the minimum wage, and passing the Green New Deal as a way to create jobs and “prevent the structural unemployment that will occur from the inevitable shift in energy infrastructure.”
- Education funding and reform: Cogbill says he’ll support policies that “disrupt educational apartheid and provide equitable opportunities for all students” and fight for fully funded technical career training and free community college.
→ Campaign site is here
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5th District
Mary Gay Scanlon (Democrat, incumbent)
First elected to Congress in a 2018 special election, Mary Gay Scanlon is vying for her third full term. Scanlon, who lives in Swarthmore, was a founding board member of Philadelphia Legal Assistance, worked as a senior staff attorney at the Education Law Center of Pa., served on the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board, and spent 15 years as pro bono counsel at Ballard Spahr.
In Congress, Scanlon is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Rules. She chairs the Youth Mentoring Caucus and co-chairs the Legal Aid Caucus. She’s sponsored bills to penalize fraudulent firearm sales, expand civic education, and improve voting accessibility for disabled and older people. Scanlon has been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Sierra Club, and the Progressive Turnout Project.
Priorities:
- Voting rights: Scanlon has sponsored or co-sponsored legislation requiring states to provide drop boxes for absentee ballots, improving voting accessibility for disabled voters, and increasing protections for voters and election workers.
- Education: Scanlon has introduced or supported bills that would expand civic education, erase any bad student-loan-related credit history, and establish an Office of the Borrower Advocate to assist people with student loans in dealing with the Office of Federal Student Aid.
- “Common sense” gun safety: Scanlon has introduced or supported bills to prevent pretrial gun purchases, end fraudulent gun sales, and ban firearm sales to anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor.
→ Campaign site is here
David Galluch (Republican)
An alum of the U.S. Naval Academy, Galluch served in the Navy after finishing grad school at the University of Cambridge and was deployed to the Middle East and Somalia. He left the military in 2019 to work for Comcast and now lives in Newtown Square in Delaware County.
While Galluch “spent his time in the Navy defusing bombs,” he wants to represent the 5th District so he can “go to Washington to defuse our explosive politics,” according to his website.
Priorities:
- Inflation and the cost of living: Galluch supports balancing the federal budget, increasing U.S. productivity, and opposing “out of control” spending increases.
- The economy and jobs: Galluch believes in small-business-friendly tax policy, incentivizing work through fiscal policies, and revitalizing sectors like shipbuilding, machine tooling, and microelectronics.
- Education: Galluch believes in allowing parents to be “constructive stakeholders” in education, and establishing and expanding apprenticeship programs and partnerships between schools and industries.
→ Campaign site is here
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After two terms under Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, Pennsylvania’s governorship is considered one of the most likely to flip. Keeping the position in the same party after a two-term stint hasn’t happened in over a century.
Josh Shapiro (Democrat)
Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, is the only Democratic candidate on the ballot.
A former political staffer, he was elected to the Pa. House in 2005. He ran for Montgomery County Commissioner in 2011 and won, helping Democrats gain a majority for the first time. He ran for AG in 2016, after Kathleen Kane resigned under indictment, and won.
His landmark achievement as the state’s highest law enforcement official is 2018’s report exposing clergy sexual abuse and serial coverups in Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses. He was also active after the 2020 presidential race, filing multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration, and making voting rights a central tenet of his campaign.
Priorities:
→ Campaign site is here
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Lou Barletta (Republican)
Barletta, who served as mayor of Hazleton and in the U.S. House, last ran for office in 2018, when he won the GOP Senate nomination and lost the general election to Bob Casey. He boasts a sizable list of endorsements from public officials.
Barletta takes a hardline stance against undocumented residents. In 2006, he became the first mayor in the U.S. to pass an ordinance penalizing employers and landlords for doing business with undocumented residents. The law was ruled unconstitutional, and legal fees eventually contributed to Hazleton’s need to apply for a state bailout.
Priorities:
- Boosting fossil fuel production
- Reducing regulations on business
- Deterring undocumented residency / combating sanctuary cities
→ Campaign site is here
Douglas V. Mastriano (Republican)
After a 30-year military career where he rose to the rank of colonel, Mastriano won his first political office in a 2019 special election for the Pa. Senate’s 33rd District, which includes Adams County and surroundings.
A self-proclaimed Trump follower, Mastriano continues to advocate for investigating Pa.’s 2020 election that made Joe Biden president. He was in DC on Jan. 6 and has been subpoenaed by the U.S. House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
Mastriano is polling at the top of the GOP primary field. An avowed enemy of what he views as needless and corrupt bureaucracy, his stated goals involve decreasing the role of regulators and closing the “Revolving Door” between public service and lobbying outfits.
Priorities:
- Eliminating two regulations for any new regulation created
- Constitutional Carry Law
- Ending all Wolf-era COVID executive orders and all vaccine mandates
→ Campaign site is here
Nche Zama (Republican)
Zama is a retired cardiothoracic surgeon born in Cameroon who lives in the Poconos and is running for office for the first time. His campaign was spurred by what he sees as deficiencies in the Commonwealth’s healthcare and education systems.
He believes Pennsylvania “should have a trillion-dollar economy that is globally competitive,” which would be the foundation to build education and healthcare improvements upon.
Priorities:
- Ban abortions (with no exclusions)
- Make Pa. a hub for healthcare services and research
- Improve education
→ Campaign site is here
Dave White (Republican)
White served on Delaware County Council from 2012 to 2017. He owns a mechanical contracting company, and has garnered support of several trade unions, including Philly’s Steamfitters Local 420, which donated $100,000 to his campaign.
He has poured more of his own funds into the primary than his competitors, and has spent over $3 million on ads. He has racked up endorsements from the Republican committees of multiple counties, including Bucks, Butler, Delaware, Montgomery, and Lebanon.
Priorities:
→ Campaign site is here
Melissa Hart (Republican)
A Pittsburgh native, Hart was elected to the Pa. Senate in 1991, and was the first Republican woman to serve a full term there. She became the first Republican woman to represent Pa. in Washington when she was elected to the U.S. House in 2000, and served three terms.
Hart last ran for office in 2012, when she tried to regain her old state Senate seat but lost the primary. She’s running for office again to combat what she sees as an increasingly punitive state governmen, and said she wants more citizens to be able to access and understand goings-on in Harrisburg.
Priorities
- Expanding charter school options
- Increase open records access
- Expand “opportunity zones” across the state to attract business owners
→ Campaign site is here
Bill McSwain (Republican)
William McSwain hails from Chester County, and served in the Marine Corps for four years after graduating from Yale in 1991. After attending Harvard Law School, McSwain became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pa., where he was appointed to serve as U.S. attorney in 2018.
In his position as U.S. attorney, McSwain’s has fought supervised injection sites in Philadelphia and has sparred on many issues with progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner, raising the profile of someone who once said he was uninterested in politics.
McSwain’s most prominent endorsement was really the opposite: former President Donald Trump, still smarting over his 2020 loss in Pennsylvania, suggested voters would do better with literally any other Republican.
Priorities:
- Lowering the gas tax
- Ensuring veterans acquire marketable skills
- Supporting law enforcement
→ Campaign site is here
Charlie Gerow (Republican)
Charles Gerow is known for his work as a GOP strategist as the CEO of Quantum Communications. Raised by American missionaries who adopted him when he was a child in Brazil, Gerow believes he’s the first Latino to seek the governor’s office in Pennsylvania’s history.
Gerow has rubbed shoulders and worked for some of the biggest names in GOP politics, from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush to Tom Corbett. He has run for Congress on three separate occasions to no avail, and is polling behind most candidates in this primary.
Priorities:
- Support local agriculture
- Make civics a hallmark of education
- Introduce a constitutional amendment allowing citizens to recall the governor
→ Campaign site is here
Joe Gale (Republican)
Gale, the youngest candidate on the ballot, is a Montgomery County Commissioner first elected in 2015. He stirred controversy in 2020 by saying the tide of protests was organized by “hate groups” responsible for “urban domestic terror.”
According to his website, Gale wants to “continue advancing the Trump movement” by “draining the swamp within the GOP.” The simplest way to do that, in his view, is to win Republican primaries without party support, as he did in Montco seven years ago.
Priorities:
- Property tax reform
- Move state GOP to the right on economic and social issues
- Ending no-excuse mail voting
Jake Corman (Republican)
Corman has served in the Pa. Senate since 1999, when he stepped into the Centre County seat his father held for over 20 years. Corman became majority leader in 2015 and rose to senate president pro tempore in 2020.
Corman briefly dropped out of the race in mid-April, but reentered the same day after Trump expressed support. Corman had called it quits because of uninspiring poll numbers (which haven’t improved since his change of heart). Still, institutional knowledge and decades-long connection are what have kept him plausibly within striking distance.
Priorities:
- Increasing police presence
- Auditing the 2020 election
- Reform emergency laws, inspired by Gov. Wolf’s handling of COVID
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In Pennsylvania, the lieutenant governor does not run on a shared ticket with the governor, so the candidates don’t officially pair up as running mates since they’ll appear on the ballot separately. The LG’s job includes presiding over the Pa. Senate and chairing the Board of Pardons.
Austin Davis (Democrat)
Davis, a state representative from Allegheny County since 2018, would be the highest ranking Black official in Pa. history if elected. He touts long-term involvement in politics, including a college internship at the Pa. House and a stint working for Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Davis has the endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro. He has no campaign site of his own, but there is a page for Davis on Shapiro’s.
Ray Sosa (Democrat)
Montgomery County’s Sosa would be the highest ranking Latino in state history if elected. Sosa unsuccessfully ran for this office in 2018 and then for the Pa. House in 2020. He has served on multiple governor-appointed task forces around criminal justice and emergency management. An insurance agent who runs a consulting business, Sosa wants the lieutenant governor’s office to be a “one stop resource center” for business developers. He promises to speak for Latino communities well enough to help mark “a change in the way our community is represented” in the state.
→ Campaign site is here
Brian Sims (Democrat)
Sims would be the highest ranking openly LGBTQ+ official in Pa. history if elected. He has served as state rep for Philly’s 181st House District since 2012, and co-chairs the LGBT Equality Caucus. He entered this race months before his primary opponents. Election reform, decarceration, and public education are among his priorities. The Shapiro campaign issued a cease-and-desist for what they call a misleading ad claiming Shapiro supports Sims’ candidacy.
→ Campaign site is here
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Clarice Schillinger (Republican)
Schillinger, a Montco resident and first-time candidate for higher office, helped found the Keep Kids in School PAC, an outgrowth of a Facebook group for parents fed up with COVID mitigation policies in schools. (The PAC saw big success in last year’s primary, and expanded into the statewide Back to School PA PAC, mostly funded by Bucks venture capitalist Paul Martino.) Schillinger’s priorities include “a total revamp of our education system” and changes in natural resource policy — she has called the Keystone State “the Saudi Arabia of the United States.”
→ Campaign site is here
James Earl Jones (Republican)
Jones is a Navy vet originally from Arkansas who’s lived in the Philly region for over 20 years. An HR professional by trade, Jones has run for Congress twice — once in 2011, and again in 2016, when he lost in the general to Dwight Evans. His priorities include school choice, increasing fossil fuel production, and providing incentives for business owners. He had sworn off of politics after the 2016 defeat, but said he was compelled to give it another shot at the behest of an unnamed Republican representative in the state.
→ Campaign site is here
Rick Saccone (Republican)
An Allegheny County native, Saccone served in the Air Force and was a civilian employee of the Army during the Iraq War, where he served as an interrogation consultant at Abu Ghraib. (He has written pieces in defense of torture.) He was state rep for Allegheny’s 39th District from 2011 to 2018, when he ran in the special election for U.S. House, losing to Conor Lamb by 0.04 percentage points. On Jan. 6, he posted a video from DC with the caption, “We are storming the capitol. Our vanguard has broken thru the barricades. We will save this nation. Are you with me?” He has faced no related charges.
→ Campaign site is here
John Brown (Republican)
John Brown currently serves on Northampton County Council. From 2009 to 2013, he was mayor of Bangor, a town 32 miles north of Allentown. He moved on to be Northhampton County Executive from 2013 to 2017, and was the GOP nominee for auditor general in 2016. A recent campaign filing showed him with just $395 on hand, but he has played the upsetter before, when he shocked observers by winning the race for county executive. Billy Penn could not locate a campaign website.
Chris Frye (Republican)
Frye made history in 2019 when he was elected New Castle’s first Black mayor. The Lawrence County politician says his indomitable work ethic makes him the man for the job. Frye’s past experience includes working for the U.S. Pretrial and Probation Services System and with community and economic development organizations. His current office fundamentally changed after a Home Rule referendum passed in 2021 essentially shifted the mayor’s role to president of the city council.
→ Campaign site is here
Jeff Coleman (Republican)
From 2000 to 2004, Coleman was the state representative for Pa.’s 60th District, repping Armstrong and Indiana counties. After leaving office, he founded Harrisburg communications firm Churchill Strategies, and says strained civil discourse inspired him to run for Lieutenant Governor. Revitalizing small towns and workforce development rank among his primary goals. Coleman has received several endorsements from prominent Republicans, including from retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, former Lt. Gov. William Scranton II, and Rep. Donna Oberlander, the House majority whip.
→ Campaign site is here
Russ Diamond (Republican)
In the early 2000s, Diamond was an anti-incumbency activist running for state office on the Libertarian Party line. He ran six unsuccessful campaigns between 2004 and 2014 — including a previous bid for lieutenant governor in 2010 — before winning election (as a Republican) for Pa.’s 102nd House District. Diamond participated in protests against Pa. COVID mitigation measures, and has drawn national headlines for mocking Rachel Levine, the transwoman who was formerly Pa. Secretary of Health. Two women have filed for and been granted protection from abuse orders against Diamond, one in 2002 and another in 2013. After a public drunkenness incident in 2015, he admitted to being an alcoholic. He has no campaign website, but has posted about his candidacy on his blog.
Carrie Lewis DelRosso (Republican)
Lewis DelRosso reps Pa.’s 33rd House District, having scored an upset victory in 2020 when she unseated 30-year incumbent and Minority Whip Democrat Frank Dermondy. Before turning to public service, DelRosso ran a public relations firm that worked with schools in the PIttsburgh suburbs. She touts an endorsement from FOP Lodge 1 in Pittsburgh, and aims to support law enforcement against what she views as lax prosecutors and expanding crime due to “the madness in Philadelphia.” Other aims include lowering the cost of healthcare for older constituents and making the state attractive for business owners — she was endorsed by Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs.
→ Campaign site is here
Teddy Daniels (Republican)
Daniels is a retired police officer who received a Purple Heart serving in the infantry in Afghanistan. He started this election season also running for U.S. House in Pa.’s 8th Congressional District, but dropped out of that race. Daniels has the endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, as well as General Mike Flynn and Arizona congressman Paul Gosar. Daniel was recently in the news after his wife filed for and received a protection from abuse order against him on claims that he stalked her and threatened to kill the family’s dog. Daniels has denied these allegations.
→ Campaign site is here
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It’s election year for 3 of the 7 Pa. Senate districts that cover Philly. Of those, only one has multiple contenders for the seat — and none have a Republican on the ballot. Winners will serve a 4-year term in the General Assembly.
8th District
Anthony H. Williams (Democrat, incumbent)
Williams has a long career in Pennsylvania politics (including a few unsuccessful bids for Philly mayor). He served in the Pa. House starting in 1988, and was elected to the state Senate in 1998 after his father, Hardy Williams, stepped down from the seat. In the legislature, Williams has advocated for school choice and sponsored a bill requiring applicants for school jobs to disclose sexual abuse allegations. He now serves as the state senate’s Democratic Whip.
→ Campaign site is here
Paul Prescod (Democrat)
Prescod is a history teacher and union activist who first became involved with organizing as a student at Temple University. He’s a member of the Philly Democratic Socialists of America, which voted “overwhelmingly” in December to endorse him. Prescod is in favor of passing all basic education funding through the fair funding formula, raising the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, and developing universal broadband access in Pa. using union labor. Prescod is also endorsed by the Pennsylvania Working Families Party and the Philly chapter of the Sunrise Movement.
→ Campaign site is here
The uncontested races:
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All Pa. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. There’s a new map this time around, as redistricting shifted some lines and created an entirely new district that covers part of Philadelphia. (Candidates in districts with uncontested races are listed at the end of this section.)
10th District
Sajda Blackwell (Democrat)
Known as “Purple,” Blackwell is founder and host of PQRadio1, an independent online station that began broadcasting in 2013 and was previously part of WHYY’s News and Information Community Exchange program. She is married to Tommy Blackwell, grandson of former City Councilmember Jannie Blackwell. Priorities include voting rights and curbing gun violence. Last year, she convinced Mayor Jim Kenney to publicly address the hunger strike of activist Jamal Johnson, who was demanding a state of emergency over violence. Blackwell has been endorsed by Philadelphia Sheriff Rochell Bilal and Register of Wills Tracey Gordon.
→ Campaign site is here
Cass Green (Democrat)
Green is a West Philly resident and community organizer, where she has worked to launch arts programming and to support young families experiencing homelessness. Her priorities include increased school funding and more widespread affordable housing. Green’s endorsement list is lengthy, including Pennsylvania’s Working Families Party, the Philly Federation of Teachers, AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47, and more. District Attorney Larry Krasner, along with Councilmembers Gym, Gauthier, and Brooks are all supporters.
→ Campaign site is here
Amen Brown (Democrat)
Currently the state rep for Pa.’s 190th District, Brown is aiming to switch over to the new 10th, which was relocated during redistricting. He faced lawsuits alleging he didn’t meet the residency requirement for the seat, but the court permitted him to stay on the ballot, saying the candidate “merely committed a mistake resulting from the lackadaisical attitude he routinely displays toward serious matters.” Brown made waves in Harrisburg pushing legislation to impose mandatory minimums for felony convictions of people ruled too dangerous to have a firearm. Brown was also tangled for years in a deed fraud dispute. Billy Penn could not locate a campaign site.
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172nd District
Kevin J. Boyle (Democrat, incumbent)
Boyle, younger brother of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, was first elected to the Pa. House in 2010. Prior to that, he was legislative director for former City Councilmember Bill Greenlee. In the last decade or so, he’s served regularly on the Pa. House committees for health, finance, and urban affairs. Last fall he was arrested for allegedly violating a protection from abuse order, a shakeup that saw him stripped of committee leadership. He did not heed calls to resign, but did seek mental health counseling. Billy Penn could not locate a campaign site.
Bob Stewart (Democrat)
Stewart is a community journalist from Northeast Philly who founded Spirit News. He’s chair of the publicity committee for the 7th Police District Advisory Council and works as girls athletic director for the Bustleton Bengals Youth Club. The would-be first time officeholder is running on a platform that includes shortening police response times, defending victim’s rights, and creating job training programs.
→ Campaign site is here
Al Taubenberger (Republican)
Taubenberger served as an at-large city councilmember from 2016 to 2020 and is a former president of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He ran for Pa. House in 2012 and lost to Kevin Boyle. As a councilmember, Taubenberger pushed for first-year exemptions to the business income and receipts tax, and sponsored a bill prohibiting smoking in bus shelters. After he lost his Council seat, he recommended Philly Republicans cut down on infighting. In this race, he’s endorsed by Philly’s Republican City Committee. Billy Penn did not locate a campaign site.
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173rd District
Pat Gallagher (Democrat)
Gallagher is a Northeast Philly native, the son of a PPD officer, on the board of the Northeast Victim Service. Chief of staff for Pa. Rep. Mike Driscoll for the last eight years, he’s running to replace his boss, who was picked as Dem nominee to replace Bobby Henon on City Council, Gallagher is endorsed by the FOP Lodge 5 and several ward and union leaders in the Northeast.
→ Campaign site is here
Pete McDermott (Democrat)
Peter McDermott of Mayfair is a ward leader in the 64th, a board member of Mayfair Community Development Corporation, and a teacher at Ben Franklin High School. Already an active resident, he also graduated from the Philadelphia Citizens Planning Institute, which helps Philadelphians to better understand city planning and utilize that knowledge in their communities. McDermott’s campaign site is still under construction.
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177th District
Joe Hohenstein (Democrat, incumbent)
Hohenstein was first elected to the Pa. House in 2018. His priorities include education, creating jobs, and ensuring corporations “pay their fair share” in taxes, according to his website. He’s endorsed for re-election by numerous organizations, including the Working Families Party, Philly for Change, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State and SMART Local 19.
→ Campaign site is here
Mark Lavelle (Republican)
Lavelle is a warehouse manager for a medical equipment company, according to his LinkedIn page, which says he will be bipartisan, and aims to work with law enforcement. Billy Penn could not locate a campaign website.
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182nd District
Will Gross (Democrat)
Gross is the owner of OX Coffee in Queen Village who has been a Democratic committeeperson in the 2nd Ward since 2018. He has been outspoken about increasing the minimum wage, and wants to improve access to health care and affordable housing, improve schools and move toward more sustainable energy.
→ Campaign site is here
Ben Waxman (Democrat)
Waxman is a former journalist who worked at WHYY. Once he got into politics, he worked for Pa. Sen. Vincent Hughes and District Attorney Larry Krasner. Issues he has focused on are raising the minimum wage, drug policy reform, and school funding equity.
→ Campaign site is here
Jonathan Lovitz (Democrat)
Lovitz is a senior VP for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. His policy priorities include affordable and inclusive health care, services for seniors and veterans, school safety and funding, supporting arts and culture, and preserving the environment. He has snagged endorsements from several unions.
→ Campaign site is here
Deja Alvarez (Democrat)
Alvarez is director of community engagement for World Healthcare Infrastructures and has served in a number of leadership roles for Philadelphia organizations and government entities focused on serving the LGBTQ community. She would be the first transgender person elected to the Pa. House. Alvarez is endorsed by current 182nd District Rep. Sims, who is running for lieutenant governor.
→ Campaign site is here
Albert Robles Montas (Republican)
Robles is a litigator in Philadelphia. He is endorsed by the Philadelphia Republican City Committee. Billy Penn could not locate a campaign website.
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184th District
Elizabeth Fiedler (Democrat, incumbent)
Fiedler has been a member of the Pa. House since 2019. A former WHYY reporter, her focus in Harrisburg has been on equity in health care, education and housing, as well as workers’ rights and climate. She is endorsed by a number of labor unions, organizations including the Democratic Socialists of America, and elected officials including Gov. Wolf and Attorney General Shapiro.
→ Campaign site is here
Michael A. Giangiordano II (Democrat)
Giangiordano is a real estate agent and lifelong Philadelphian. Issues he plans to focus on include public safety, education and small business issues. He is backed by several unions, as well as the Philadelphia Democratic Party, an endorsement that led to consternation among progressives in the city.
→ Campaign site is here
Marjilyn Murray (Republican)
Murray is a lifelong South Philadelphia resident. She describes herself as pro-law enforcement, and she is against opening injection sites in South Philadelphia — or anywhere in the city. She is also concerned about rising inflation and keeping schools safe.
→ Campaign site is here
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188th District
Rick Krajewski (Democrat, incumbent)
Krajewski, a Penn grad and former software engineer and community organizer for Reclaim Philadelphia, says his agenda is shaped around “mass liberation.” Per his website, that includes decarceration, increasing education funding, and supporting community-based gun violence solutions, among other things. In 2020, Krajewski unseated incumbent James Roebuck, who had gotten the party endorsement and had been one of the longest-serving state legislators from Philadelphia. Krajewski’s endorsements this year include the Pa. Working Families Party, the Penn Justice Democrats, and the Philly DSA.
→ Campaign site is here
James Wright (Democrat)
Wright, who’s worked as director of community, economic, and real estate development at the People’s Emergency Center, says he believes in setting an agenda for change that’s “BY the community, FOR the community.” Wright supports crime prevention efforts “initiated by the community and sustained with the help of the police and other partners of the community,” police accountability and transparency, improving public housing, and protections for homeowners against rising property taxes. He’s been endorsed by the Philly Democratic City Committee.
→ Campaign site is here
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194th District
Pamela DeLissio (Democrat, incumbent)
DeLissio, a Roxborough resident since 1997, has served in the Pa. House for over a decade, getting her start in 2011 after a career in long-term care and small business. She’s now the minority chair of the Children and Youth Committee. She’s sponsored bills like one that would add the option to some DMV forms to donate to the Children’s Trust Fund, which makes grants to anti-child abuse programs. Her website describes her as “the ideal of a moderate, aisle-crossing, smart, non-extreme legislator that we do not have enough of in both parties.”
→ Campaign site is here
Tarik Khan (Democrat)
Khan, a nurse and the former president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, says on his campaign website that he’s “running for state representative to give Harrisburg a shot in the arm.” He says he’d push for a state-level Green New Deal, work toward less toxic schools, and support both Medicare-for-All legislation as well as shorter-term healthcare changes like expanding Medicaid eligibility and regulating drug prices. Khan has been endorsed by the Pa. Working Families Party and state Sen. Nikil Saval.
→ Campaign site is here
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200th District
Chris Rabb (Democrat, incumbent)
Rabb is one of two incumbents running for re-election around Mt. Airy and West Oak Lane, thanks to the creation of a new legislative district. A self-proclaimed progessive who took office in 2017, Rabb’s third-term priorities included policy accountability, abating climate change, and social equity measures. Over his past five years in office, he’s sponsored six bills that became laws, including the creation of a police misconduct database and a fund for community groups that support youth in areas with high rates of incarceration. He also introduced a parody bill to require vasectomies for men over 40 in an effort to spotlight abortion rights. This election, he has endorsements from Reclaim Philly, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and several other labor unions.
→ Campaign site is here
Isabella Fitzgerald (Democrat)
Fitzgerald previously repped the 203rd District, and now finds herself running in the 200th because of the new legislative map. She has introduced legislation that would provide free menstrual products to incarcerated women, mandate proper firearm storage, and create a Bill of Rights for homeless individuals that would bar discrimination based on housing status. This election cycle, she has endorsements from City Councilmembers Cindy Bass, Derrick Green, and Isaiah Thomas, as well as Congressman Dwight Evans.
→ Campaign site is here
Kionna West (Republican)
Kionna West is the lone Republican running in the new 200th District. A current law student and banking professional, per her campaign website, she describes herself as a “woman of God [who is] conservative, pro-life, [and] pro-women’s rights.” Campaign priorities include securing funding for small business owners, increased salaries for public school teachers, and partnerships with police to stem crime. West has endorsements from Philadelphia Young Republicans, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, and the Philly GOP.
→ Campaign site is here
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201st District
Stephen Kinsey (Democrat, incumbent)
Kinsey has represented Germantown, Mt. Airy, and West Oak Lane in Harrisburg since 2013. He previously led the Pa. Legislative Black Caucus and currently chairs the newly formed Bipartisan Caucus. In February, he launched the Third Thursday Initiative to improve anti-violence measures in Northeast Philly, and recently introduced legislation to fund a nonpartisan research center on gun violence. Kinsey has also proposed a slew of bills targeted at criminal justice reform, including Earned Compliance Credits to reduce time-served for low-risk offenders, and has advocated for changes to risk assessment and sentencing algorithms.
→ Campaign site is here
Andre D. Carroll (Democrat)
Carroll was raised in Germantown and graduated from Temple in 2020 before going to work as a community engagement liaison for Pa. Senate Minority Whip Anthony Williams. If elected, Carroll would be the fourth openly LGBTQ member of the state legislature, and he’s advocated for a statewide ban on conversion therapy and clearer anti-discrimination laws. Other campaign priorities include eviction reform, securing a $15 minimum wage, and funding for free community college and universal pre-K. Carroll has snagged endorsements from Reclaim Philly, the Working Families Party, Senator Nikhil Saval and City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Isaiah Thomas, among others.
→ Campaign site is here
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The uncontested races:
- 170th District — Martina White (Republican, incumbent)
- 174th District — Ed Neilson (Democrat, incumbent)
- 175th District — Marylouise Isaacson (Democrat, incumbent)
- 179th District — Jason T Dawkins (Democrat, incumbent)
- 180th District — Jose A Giral (Democrat)
- 181st District — Malcolm Kenyatta (Democrat, incumbent; yes, he’s also running for U.S. Senate)
- 185th District — Regina G Young (Democrat, incumbent)
- 186th District — Jordan A Harris (Democrat, incumbent)
- 190th District — Roni Green (Democrat)
- 191st District — Joanna McClinton (Democrat, incumbent)
- 192nd District — Morgan Cephas (Democrat, incumbent)
- 195th District — Donna Bullock (Democrat, incumbent)
- 197th District — Danilo Burgos (Democrat, incumbent)
- 198th District — Darisha K Parker (Democrat, incumbent)
- 202nd District — Jared Solomon (Democrat)
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Mike Driscoll
Driscoll is currently a member of the Pa. House representing Northeast Philadelphia. He was hand-picked by Philly’s Democratic leaders for the special election to replace Bobby Henon. Henon resigned last month after being convicted on federal bribery charges. Driscoll is running unopposed to take Henon’s seat and does not appear to have a campaign website.
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