(The Center Square) – Both longtime and relatively new incumbent state lawmakers will face primary election challenges on May 19 as the journey toward remaking the Legislature for 2027-28 begins.
Seven-term Democratic Sen. Anthony Williams of Philadelphia and three-term Republican Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Washington County, for instance, are among incumbents who face opponents from within their own party. Among many contested primaries in the House, 19-year Republican incumbent Rep. Dan Moul of Adams County has two in-party challengers; and two second-term Allegheny County Democrats – Reps. La’Tasha Mayes and Abigail Salisbury – also have challengers.
The environment this year moving toward the Nov. 3 general election appears to favor Democrats, some say.
“Timing is important,” said Chris Borick, a Muhlenberg College professor and pollster. “There is no doubt that this midterm cycle, the winds are in the face of the Republican Party.”
Traditional midterm pushback against the party in the White House is one source, according to Borick. Others, he added, include low poll numbers for President Donald Trump and “generic ballot” polling that shows a heavy lean toward Democrats.
Glenn Geissinger, chairman of the Northampton County GOP, isn’t so sure.
The talk of “blue headwinds” or a “blue tsunami” this year, Geissinger said, may overstate what is actually happening. He acknowledged there is “a lot of concern by the general public with what is going on overseas. The conflict with Iran wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”
The “micro-focus” on gas prices – unleaded averaged $4.67 a gallon in the state on Monday, up 42% from the price a year earlier – has partially obscured strong national policy decisions and military performance in the Iran conflict, Geissinger said.
In Pennsylvania, Republicans have a 27-23 majority in the state Senate. At least some Democrats feel they have a chance of flipping the chamber.
“We feel better than we have in recent decades,” said Brittany Crampsie, spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. Many in the electorate, she said, are “angry about what has happened in Washington” since 2024.
At least four Republican-held state Senate seats – those of Sens. Jarrett Coleman of Lehigh County, Tracy Pennycuick of Montgomery County, Frank Farry of Bucks County, and Rosemary Brown of Monroe County – are a particular focus for Democrats this year, according to Crampsie.
Each of the four are completing their first four-year term, and in each of their districts Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won the gubernatorial vote in 2022. None of the four has a primary opponent, but each will face a Democrat in November.
Republicans have been elected to majorities in the Senate repeatedly, said Michael Straw, spokesperson for the Republican Senate Campaign Committee. He said, “We are optimistic.”
While Coleman has no primary challenger in his 16th Senate District that includes parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties, a pair of Democrats are facing off in the primary. According to Lehigh County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Lori McFarland, it is a “highly competitive” contest between a progressive, Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, and a centrist, teacher and Pennridge School Board member Bradley Merkl-Gump.
The county Democratic committee, she said, will support the winner.
“If we ever are going to take back the Senate, it is going to be now,” McFarland said.
Williams, the Democrat who has represented the 8th Senate District for about 28 years, faces a primary challenge from David Goldsmith Jr., a real estate agent. Bartolotta, a Republican who has represented the 46th Senate District for 11 years, faces a primary challenge from Albert Buchtan, a masonry company founder.
The Pennsylvania House was controlled by Republicans for 12 years ending in early 2023. Since then, Democrats have been in control, and the current slim margin of 102-101 is where it has stood for much of the past three-plus years.
Retaking the House and maintaining Senate control is “among our top objectives for 2026,” said state GOP spokesperson Jim Markley.
There are many contested primaries.
Moul, who has represented the 91st House District for 19 years, is being challenged by Conewago Valley School Board member Lindsay Krug and Littlestown Area School Board President Nick Lovell.
Both Mayes and Salisbury, meanwhile, joined the House less than four years ago. Mayes faces a challenge from William Johnson, chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Black Caucus; and Salisbury is being challenged by Todd Koger Sr.
