The Capital-Star’s Pennsylvania legislative races to watch this primary Election Day

All 203 of Pennsylvania’s state House seats and half of its Senate seats are up for election this year but only a handful in each chamber are contested.

Among the contested seats, crowded ballots, challenges to established incumbents, or the potential for a seat to flip parties in November make them stand out. Sixteen House races have candidates on only one primary ballot, so today’s winner will most likely get the seat in November.

Here’s the Capital-Star’s list of General Assembly races to watch in today’s primary election.

10th Legislative District

State Rep. Amen Brown (D-Philadelphia) has represented his west Philadelphia district since 2021 and faces two challengers in the Democratic primary this year after he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Philadelphia mayor in 2023.

In a rematch of the 2022 primary, Brown is running against community activists Sadja Blackwell and Cass Green. Brown defeated Green by about 200 votes and was unchallenged in the general election. Brown may be more susceptible to a challenge this year after his mayoral bid left his political career tarnished when financial and legal improprieties in his business and real estate dealings emerged. 

Green is a co-founder of Mill Creek Community Partnership, a nonprofit organization working to revitalize the Mill Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia through arts and culture, education, urban redevelopment and economic empowerment. On her campaign website, Green said she also works in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office doing juvenile diversion and restorative justice. 

Blackwell is also a community organizer and co-founder of Blackwell Cultural Alliance, which provides food for needy families and focuses on crime prevention and community service by providing safe, creative spaces for young adults. Related by marriage to the late U.S. Rep. Lucien Blackwell, Sajda Blackwell is likely to benefit from those political connections.

32nd Legislative District

Rep. Joe McAndrew (D-Allegheny) was chosen by party leaders to run in a February 2023 special election to fill the House seat left vacant by the late Rep. Anthony DeLuca’s death. McAndrew won, but Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese is challenging McAndrew, saying voters should have a say in who represents the strongly Democratic district.

McAndrew, who owns a marketing business, worked for former House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny), was executive director of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, and worked on the campaign of U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) before running for office himself. 

McAndrew touts working-class roots and said raising the minimum wage, supporting unions, protecting women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, and ensuring equitable school funding are among his priorities. 

Calabrese notes that this year’s election is the first opportunity voters will have to weigh in on the nominee to succeed DeLuca, who served the district for 40 years. Calabrese said she would focus on reproductive health care, climate policy, property tax reform and gun reforms in the House. 

34th Legislative District

Elected in the same February 2023 trio of special elections as McAndrew, Rep. Abigail Salisbury (D-Allegheny) replaced U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th District), who was reelected to the state House at the same time she won her seat in Congress. Wilkinsburg School Board Director Ashley Comans is challenging Salisbury.

Salisbury, a lawyer and former Swissvale borough council member, touts her work as a lawmaker to improve access to state grants and improve cooperation between municipal elected officials. She founded the PA Charitable Nonprofit Caucus, which works to improve the state’s relationship with and services to charities. She has also passed bills to fight blight and provide grant writing assistance to low-income communities.

As a school director, Comans said she has been an advocate for equitable school funding while working to restructure the Wilkinsburg district’s schools and reduce property taxes. Comans said she would fight as a state lawmaker for working families by pursuing health and reproductive justice and support for family care, such as paid family and sick leave. Lee has endorsed Comans.

100th Legislative District

Nine-term incumbent House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) faces a challenge from conservative political newcomer and Sadsbury Township resident Dave Nissley.

Nissley, who said on his campaign website that he was inspired to run after hearing conservative author Eric Metaxas speak, lists school choice, abortion control, property tax reform, eliminating burdensome regulation, and election integrity as priorities. 

Nissley faces a formidable campaign finance challenge in his run against the top Republican in the state House. As GOP leader,

Cutler has the endorsement of Lancaster County Republicans and the ability to draw in contributors from across the state. 

In the final two weeks of the campaign, the House Republican Campaign Committee funneled $132,000 into Cutler’s committee and the state Republican Party added another $20,000 nearly doubling Cutler’s fundraising for the year.

As a lawmaker, Cutler highlights his opposition to former Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic emergency order closing schools and businesses, vaccine requirements and the passage of a constitutional amendment that limits the governor’s emergency powers. 

102nd Legislative District

Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon), who is running for reelection to a sixth term, faces a challenge from a conservative Republican backed by a regular target of Diamond’s criticism.

Rachel Moyer, the vice president of Eastern Lebanon County School Board, announced in November that she was running against Diamond with the “full support” of state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin). Mastriano was the 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee who lost to Josh Shapiro.

Diamond, a musician and recording studio owner turned government reform advocate, was first elected in 2015. But he became widely known in Pennsylvania political circles a decade earlier when his organization, PA Clean Sweep, led a charge to oust lawmakers who voted in a 2 a.m. roll call to increase their own salaries.

As a lawmaker, he touts his work as a leader of the opposition to pandemic business and school closures, legislation to secure a share of casino revenue for his district, and work to allow the production of industrial hemp as a cash crop for Pennsylvania farmers. 

Diamond called on Republicans before the 2022 primary to oppose Mastriano’s candidacy for governor, noting that his association with efforts to overturn the 2020 election made him Shapiro’s “dream opponent.” Last year, he called on Mastriano to bow out of this year’s U.S. Senate race, citing his poor performance in the governor’s race. 

Moyer, a stay-at-home mother and wife of a pastor, was the Lebanon County chapter leader of Free PA, educating members on election laws and training them to be poll workers. She has also been active as a volunteer on Republican campaigns for school board, county commissioner, state Senate and governor, according to her website. 

103rd Legislative District

State Rep. Patty Kim (D-Dauphin) is running for the state Senate seat that Sen. John DiSanto (R-Dauphin) has held since 2016.

That set the stage for a five way race between Democrats for the nomination for Kim’s seat. They are: 

• Tina Nixon, a staffer for former House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis;
• Mercedes Evans, a Camp Hill Borough councilwoman and community advocate; 
• Nathan Davidson, a former executive director of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee; 
• Jesse Monoski, a Lemoyne Borough Council Member; and 
• Laura Harding, a Navy veteran and Harrisburg community activist.

The winner of the primary will go on to face Cynthia Ward of Cumberland County, the lone Republican, in November. 

172nd Legislative District

Rep. Kevin Boyle (D-Philadelphia) is on the ballot for reelection to his northeast Philadelphia House seat even as he faces personal and legal challenges. 

Sean Dougherty, the nephew of former Philadelphia labor leader John Dougherty (who is currently on trial on conspiracy and extortion charges), was recruited to challenge Boyle when the incumbent’s problems became public in February.

A video circulated on social media showing Boyle, who appeared to be intoxicated, threatening to have a Montgomery County tavern shut down after he was asked to leave.

On Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and police Commissioner Kevin Bethel announced they have withdrawn an arrest warrant for Boyle on an allegation that he had violated a restraining order obtained against him by his ex-wife. The warrant, Krasner said, was based on a restraining order that was not in effect at the time of the alleged violation.

Boyle, whose whereabouts are unknown, has been forthright about his struggles with mental illness and his brother, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-2nd District), has said the family is focused on helping him get well.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery) said Democratic leaders are concerned for Boyle’s wellbeing. Meanwhile, the House Democratic Campaign Committee poured $72,000 into Dougherty’s campaign and the state Democratic Party spent nearly $59,000 on the campaign’s behalf, campaign finance records show. 

The winner of the Democratic primary will face a Republican opponent in November. Civic leader Aizaz Gill and Army veteran Patrick Gushue are on the GOP ballot.

181st Legislative District

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) is running for state auditor general at the same time as he defends his House seat in a three-way Democratic primary. His challengers are Lewis Nash Sr., a pastor and Philadelphia ward leader, and NaDerah Griffin, who was a math and reading teacher and a board member and instructor for the Philadelphia Energy Authority’s solar power vocational program.

Kenyatta was first elected to the House in 2018 and was the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color elected to the General Assembly. He ran an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2022, losing in the Democratic primary to John Fetterman. As a state lawmaker, Kenyatta has prioritized workers’ rights, gun safety, and extending existing anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ people.

Nash is founder and pastor at Faith and Deliverance Kingdom Worship Center in north Philadelphia. He is also founder of Mankind Against Poverty Community Development Corp., where volunteers work to help residents in need with housing, health, literacy and basic needs. Nash’s campaign website says running for the state House is another way for him to serve his community.

On her Facebook page Griffin said she would focus on crime and public safety, criminal justice reform, mental health, education, employment, and affordable housing.

15th Senate District

Rep. Patty Kim, who was first elected to the House in 2012, launched her Senate campaign with the belief that she would be challenging Republican incumbent DiSanto if she was the nominee in November. DiSanto has since made good on a pledge not to run for a third term in the Senate.

Harrisburg pastor Alvin Q. Taylor is also seeking the Democratic nomination in the 15th District. Dauphin County treasurer Nick DiFrancesco and Army veteran Ken Stambaugh are seeking the GOP nomination for the seat. 

The district, which includes a large chunk of Democrat-leaning Dauphin County, was redrawn in 2022 giving Democrats “an outstanding chance to be successful there,” Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa told the Capital-Star. It’s one of the districts that could help Democrats shrink or wipe out the six-vote Republican majority in the Senate.

45th Senate District

Sen. Jim Brewster’s announcement in January that he would retire at the end of 2024 set the stage for hotly contested primaries on both Democratic and Republican ballots.

State Rep. Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny) and Makenzie White, a licensed social worker and community organizer, are both seeking the Democratic Party nomination in the race for the 45th state Senate district.

On the Republican side, security firm owner Jennifer Dintini and Kami Stulginskas of Munhall are running for the GOP nomination. Stulginskas last week accused Republican leaders of unethical behavior claiming Senate President Pro Tem Kim Ward offered her a job to drop out of the race, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Ward confirmed that she offered Stulginskas a job on her campaign but did not tell the paper whethershe had asked Stulginskas to drop out.

The 49th District is another seat where redistricting favors Democrats, Costa said, after conservative Westmoreland County was excised from the district.

49th Senate District

The 49th Senate District in Erie County flipped to Republicans when Sen. Dan Laughlin was elected in 2016, and reelected in 2020. Two Democrats are seeking to run against Laughlin; Erie County Democratic Party Chair Jim Wertz announced his campaign in December; and Selena King, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and former chairperson of the Erie County Democratic Party’s Black Caucus

Costa said those seats represent Democrats’ “pathway to 25,” in the state Senate. “I think part of the momentum we’re building comes from the House, and part from the redistricting that has taken place, and the creation of more Democratic seats,” he said. “It sets us to be poised to be successful once that occurs.”