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HARRISBURG — Democrats say they have won control of the Pennsylvania Senate for the first time in more than three decades, giving the party a trifecta and the power to set policy for the state with few limitations.
Republicans entered Tuesday’s election with a 27-23 majority in the legislature’s upper chamber. Democrats said they flipped four GOP-held seats, though the Associated Press had not called two of those races as of Wednesday morning.
The party also lost one seat, according to unofficial results, for a likely net gain of three seats.
Democrats also declared victory in the state House, with the national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee claiming the party had expanded its majority in the chamber. The Associated Press had not called nine races as of Wednesday morning.
Unofficial results also show Democrat Josh Shapiro winning his reelection bid in a landslide against Republican Stacy Garrity.
With control of both chambers and the governor’s mansion, Shapiro and legislative leaders have promised to raise the minimum wage, codify reproductive rights into state law, and fund mass transit.
“For the first time in decades, Pennsylvanians used their power tonight to flip the state Senate so that we can deliver even more results for our communities,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Now, with a Democratic trifecta, we’ll be able to get even more stuff done — from raising the minimum wage and lowering costs, to giving survivors their day in court, to building more housing and codifying abortion rights.”
Republicans have led the state Senate since 1994. Democrats’ current era of state House control began in 2022 after a redistricting cycle produced new political lines that reflected population shifts from GOP-leaning rural areas to suburban and urban ones.
This divided legislature has not been fruitful for governing.
Lawmakers have struggled to find common ground even on issues with bipartisan agreement, like data center regulations or legalizing recreational marijuana. That has led to historic lows in the number of laws passed in the last two sessions.
Democrats have used their slim House majority to advance a constitutional amendment codifying reproductive rights, as well as bills that would increase state funding for mass transit and legalize recreational marijuana. Those measures died in the state Senate.
Major Senate GOP priorities, like cutting utility taxes, banning trans children from participating in school sports, and creating a program in which state funds pay for students’ scholarships to private schools, went unfinished year after year.
Senate Republicans often wielded their authority as a brake on Democrats’ ambitions. For instance, leaders refused to move new election legislation so long as Democratic leaders didn’t agree to pass a constitutional amendment expanding the commonwealth’s voter ID laws.
This year’s races attracted tens of millions in political spending as Democrats sought to ride the midterm wave to unilateral power in Harrisburg.
The new legislative session officially begins next year, with new members sworn in on Jan. 5.
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