What's in the guide?
Feature: Aborting the red wave: One issue looms large over Pa. electionsU.S. Senate: John Fetterman vs. Mehmet Oz
Pennsylvania Governor: Josh Shapiro vs. Doug Mastriano
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor: Austin Davis vs. Carrie DelRosso
U.S. House District 12: Summer Lee vs. Mike Doyle
U.S. House District 17: Chris Deluzio vs. Jeremy Shaffer
Pa. State Senate District 38: Lindsey Williams vs. Lori Mizgorski
Third-Party: Pa. House District 23: Dan Frankel vs. Jay Ting Walker
The Newcomer: Pa. House District 30: Arvind Venkat vs. Cindy Kirk
The Underdog: Pa. House District 39: Rick Self vs. Andrew Kuzma
The Nail-biter: Pa. House District 33: Mandy Steele vs. Ted Tomson
Pittsburgh City Council District 5
Ballot Questions Explained
My preferred candidate has died or won higher office – what does my vote mean?
A look behind the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania
Selecting which races to highlight in the Pittsburgh City Paper Election Guide is always a challenge. Across the Pittsburgh region, more elections are taking place this year than we can possibly cover, forcing us to pass over some important contests.
In the following charts, we start out with races open to every Pennsylvania voter: governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator. From there, we take you through the races with the next largest electorates: U.S. Congressional Districts 12 and 17, then Pa. Senate District 38.
Selecting which of the 20-plus state House races to include was a bit trickier. This year, we decided to pick four races that reflect different political dynamics: Third Party, the Newcomer, the Nail-biter, and the Underdog.
As the name suggests, Third Party corresponds to a race with a prominent candidate from outside the two major party platforms. The Newcomer highlights a candidate making a strong impression despite having no prior political experience. The Nail-biter covers the district with the narrowest win during the last election cycle (note: last year’s redistricting may have a slight impact on competitiveness). Finally, the Underdog features a race that’s competitive enough to be in play, but leans enough in favor of the prevailing party to make a departure from this a meaningful upset.
A final note: space limits us from profiling in depth all of the many candidates for several statewide races. In these cases, we’ve named the third-party candidates who will appear on the ballot without charting out their respective histories and positions.
