Election Day is November 3, 2026! Statewide, Pennsylvania will be choosing who the Governor will be from 2026 to 2030. The Commonwealth has the choice to keep Josh Shapiro (D) as Governor or to elect either Stacy Garrity (R) or Ken Krawchuk (L).
If you live in Philadelphia – you will be selecting who you are sending to DC to represent your neighborhood in Congress.
This is how the Philadelphia Congressional elections break down:
Pennsylvania’s 2nd District, which mostly includes Northeast Philly and parts of Center City, features a competition between incumbent Brendan Boyle (D) and Jessica Arriaga (R), who is an outsider from the healthcare world.
According to PoliticsPA, this election was a longshot for Arriaga – similarly Siena Research Institute conducted a poll on all of the races surrounding the 2nd District geographically but did not invest in polling this district.
Pennsylvania’s 3rd District, which ranges all over the map of Philadelphia from South to West to Fairmount, and into the Northwest has a unique race devoid of a traditional Republican. As a matter of fact neither major party (Democratic or Republican) has deep roots in this race as Chris Rabb, who won his primary among a larger National Progressive push, has ties to the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. His opponent Dennis Mahoney is a political new-comer, an independent, and the #1 issue on his platform is “Ending the Benefits Cliff.”
Pennsylvania’s 5th District, which includes parts of South Philly as well as surrounding suburbs in Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware County sees incumbent Mary Gay Schanlon (D) attempting to hold a seat she’s held since 2019. In the primary three times as many people showed up to vote for Schanlon as they did for her opponent, Nick Manganaro (R).
Philadelphians will be asked to answer two ballot questions:
Both questions on Philadelphia’s 2026 ballots ask the electorate to vote on changes to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter.
Question 1 reads: “Should the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to revise the City’s contracting procedures to allow for bid preferences and set-asides for small businesses; modify the threshold and standards for contracts that can be set aside for small and local businesses; and grant the Procurement Department and the City Solicitor discretion on bond requirements for certain construction projects?”
Question 1 for normal people: Should Philly change the way it gives out work contracts to benefit small and local businesses? Voting yes means “yes we should change things for small and local businesses,” whereas voting no means the opposite.
Question 2 reads: “Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to establish and define the functions of Creative Philadelphia, an office headed by the Chief Cultural Officer to promote the City’s arts, culture, and creative economy sector?”
Question 2 for normal people: Should the City have an official government office focused on the City’s arts and creative economy? The City currently has one, but under its current legal framework another Mayor could get rid of it – so this vote makes it official and protected.Voting “yes” means “we should have this official office for the arts,” whereas voting no means the opposite.
PA General Assembly – State Senators
The races for the PA General Assembly include Christine M. Tartaglione (D) running uncontested in the 2nd District and Anthony Hardy Williams (D) running uncontested in the 8th District.
Veteran State Senator Art Haywood is running to hold the seat he’s held since 2014 against political newcomer Reverend Todd Johnson.
PA General Assembly – State Representatives
22 of the 26 Philadelphia State Rep seats that will be voted on on November 3rd, will be unchallenged seats. Just 15% of the possible Philadelphia State Rep seats will be contested, meaning that roughly 85% of these elections are decided before election day.
The four incumbents being challenged are:
In the 170th District – Republican Martina White, the rare conservative representing Philadelphia at the State-level. White represents parts of the Northeast including Somerton and Parkwood. She’s running against Rob Gurtcheff (D), a Temple Alum with a healthcare and military background.
Also in the Northeast are the races for the 173rd and 177th Districts. In the 173rd it’s incumbent Pat Gallagher (D) versus Bill Griffin (R), Griffin is positioning himself as an outsider and clashed with Gallagher over the 2025 re-election of Larry Krasner.
In the 177th District incumbent Joe Hohenstein (D) takes on Robyn Bird (R), for a district that includes parts of the Northeast along with Port Richmond and Fishtown. Bird has an interesting story, losing her father to drug addiction, which may serve as a catalyst in neighborhoods devastated by the opioid epidemic.
The final contested race is in Philadelphia’s 192nd district between Morgan Cephas (D) who has held the seat for a decade and Tiffany Van Brown (R), a moderate Republican!
Make time to hit the polls on November 3rd and remember – if you’re in line at a polling place, stay in line! It is your legal right to vote!
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