PENNSYLVANIA 21 Electoral Votes
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Pennsylvania Department of State)
Total Population, July 1, 2008 est. 12,448,274
Total Registration, Nov. 4 2008
  8,758,031
Dem. 4,480,691 (51.16%)   Rep. 3,243,391 (37.03%)   No Affiliation 464,968 (5.31%)   All Other 568,981 (6.50%)
Pennsylvania has: 67 counties.
Largest counties: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware. >
Largest cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie. >

Government
Governor: Ed Rendell (D) elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Pennsylvania General Assembly   House: 203 seats   Senate: 50 seats
Local: Counties, Cities, Townships...   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 11D, 8R - 1. B.Brady (D) | 2. C.Fattah (D) | 3. P.English (R) | 4. J.Altimire (D) | 5. J.Peterson (R) | 6. J.Gerlach (R) | 7. J.Sestak (D) | 8. P.Murphy (D)  | 9. B.Shuster (R) | 10. C.Carney (D) | 11. P.Kanjorski (D) | 12. J.Murtha (D) | 13. A.Schwartz (D) | 14. M.Doyle (D) | 15. C.Dent (R) | 16. J.Pitts (R) | 17. T.Holden (D)  | 18. T.Murphy (R)  |  19. T.Platts (R)
U.S. Senate: Bob Casey Jr. (D) elected in 2006, Arlen Specter (R) re-elected in 2004. 
2008  update
U.S. House:  In a surprise in the 3rd CD (Erie area), Kathy Dahlkemper (D) defeated incumbent Rep. Phil English (R) by 51.2% to 48.8%.  Glenn Thompson (R) kept the open 5th CD (North Central PA) in Republican control, defeating Mark McCracken (D) with 56.7% of the vote.  There were several other close races.  In 11th CD (NE PA – most of Luzerne County, more than half of Lackawanna County, and all of Carbon, Columbia and Monroe counties), Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D) defeated Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta (R) by 51.6% to 48.4%.  In the 6th CD (north and west of Philadephia) Rep. Jim Gerlach (R) defeated Bob Roggio (D) by 52.1% to 47.9%.  The 12th CD (SW corner of PA; Johnstown) became competitive late in the campaign due to Rep. John Murtha (D)'s remarks in mid-October that "no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area;" Murtha defeated retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Bill Russell (R) with 57.9% of the vote.  The House delegation for the 111th Congress is 12D, 7R.
    > Democrats pick up one U.S. House seat.  MORE

 State of Pennsylvania
Department of State

Constitution Party of PA
Libertarian Party of PA
PA Democratic Party
PA Green Party
Republican State Comm. of PA

Inquirer/Daily News
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Politics1-PA
Keystone Politics
PoliticsPA.com


The Keystone State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 9,363,381.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.2%.

Registration: Last day to register before the General Election is Oct. 6, 2008.  >

                           Official Results >


+Obama/Biden (Dem.) 3,276,363
(54.65)
McCain/Palin (Rep.)
2,655,885
(44.30)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)
42,977 (0.72)
Barr/Root (Lib.)
19,912 (0.33)
Total........5,995,137


2008 Overview
Pennsylvania became a must win state for McCain.  The Republican campaign made an intense effort in the state, but Obama-Biden achieved a comfortable margin of 620,478 votes (10.35 percentage points); McCain carried 49 counties to 18 for Obama.  In Philadelphia County Obama won 83.1% of the vote, gaining 595,980 votes to 117,221 for McCain (a plurality of 478,759 votes).
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  | 
Nader 

Primary Election -- Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Registration, April 2008: Dem. 4,200,109 (50.43%)   Rep. 3,186,057 (38.26%)   No Affiliation 374,350 (4.50%)   All Other 567,607  (6.82%)    Total 8,328,123
Democrats
188 Delegates (158 Pledged, 30 Unpledged) and 26 Alternates.
4.64% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes.
Clinton  |  Obama
Debate
Apr. 16, 2008 - ABC News and WPVI-TV Democratic debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. > +

Official Results
+Hillary Clinton
1,275,039
54.57%
Barack Obama
1,061,441
45.43%
Total
2,336,480


pre-vote memos: Clinton, Obama
reactions: Clinton, Obama, McCain

photos
voter registration

Republicans
74 Delegates: 3 RNC; 14 at-large; 57 by CD (3 x 19). 
3.11% of the 2,380 Delegates.

McCain  |  Paul
former
Giuliani - endorsed by U.S. Reps. Charlie Dent (PA-15), Phil English (PA-3) and Jim Gerlach (PA-6) 
Romney - endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum on Feb. 1, 2008

Official Results
+John McCain
595,175
72.86%
Ron Paul
129,323 15.83%
Mike Huckabee
92,430
11.31%
Total
816,928


 

Setting the Primary Date
On Dec. 13, 2004 Gov. Ed Rendell (D) established a 13-person Election Reform Task Force charged with examining six aspects of the state's elections, including the date of the presidential primary.  Rendell stated he wanted "to move the Pennsylvania primary as early as feasibly possible so that Pennsylvania voters may have a say in the selection of the Democratic and Republican nominees for President in 2008 and beyond."  In its final report, issued on May 12, 2005, the Task Force recommended moving presidential and state primary elections to the first Tuesday in March (for 2008 and 2012).  However the General Assembly must act for changes to be implemented.  Several bills to move the primary forward were introduced in 2005 (HB627, HB1661, SB40), but none of them made any headway.


General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 9,221,962.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.6%.




Registration: Dem. 3,985,486 (47.64%)   Rep. 3,405,278 (40.70%)   Lib. 34,258 (0.41%)  Grn. 15,788 (0.19%)   Other Parties 925,853 (11.07%)   ....Total 8,366,663.

Last day to register: Oct. 4, 2004.

Official Results


+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
2,938,095
(50.92)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
2,793,847
(48.42)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 21,185 (0.37)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 6,319
(0.11)
Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.)
6,318
(0.11)
Ralph Nader (write-in)
2,656
(0.05)
Scattered (write-in)
1,170
(0.02)
Total........5,769,570
 




2004 Overview
854,451 more votes were cast in the presidential race in 2004 than in 2000.  The Kerry-Edwards ticket carried the state, but Bush trimmed the Democratic plurality to 144,248 votes (2.50 percentage points) and the Republican ticket also carried five more counties than it had in 2000, or 54 counties to 13 for Kerry. 
General Election Details  |  Photos
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush/Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population*: 9,086,897.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.1%.




Registration: Dem. 3,736,304 (48.01%)   Rep. 3,250,764 (41.77%)   Const. 7,918 (0.10%)    Lib. 30,248 (0.39%)   Other Parties 756,763  (9.72%)   ...Total 7,781,997

Last day to register: Oct. 10, 2000.
Official Results               


Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
2,281,127
(46.43)
+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
2,485,967
(50.60)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
   14,428
(0.29)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
11,248
(0.23)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
103,392
(2.10)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
   16,023
(0.33)
Write-ins
934
(0.02)
Total........4,913,119


Notes: In Pennsylvania the Republicans and Democrats are major parties, while the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party qualify as minor parties.  Others are referred to as "political bodies."  Minor party and other presidential candidates wishing to appear on the ballot in the general election needed to obtain signatures from 21,739 registered electors (2% of the highest showing by a candidate in the last statewide election) in the period from Jan. 26-Aug. 1, 2000. 
2000 Overview
Pennsylvania, with 23 electoral votes, was a battleground state from beginning to end, drawing much attention and resources from both campaigns.  Before the race even got underway, both parties considered holding their nominating conventions in Philadelphia.  On Election Night itself, when networks prematurely called Florida for Bush, Pennsylvania was for a time seen as a must-win for Bush.  As it was, Gore-Lieberman carried the state with a plurality of 204,840 votes (4.17 percentage points).  Bush carried 49 counties to 18 for Gore, but Gore won in the five most populous counties, including a plurality of 348,223 votes in Philadelphia County.
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992
Clinton (Dem.).....2,239,164
(45.15)
Bush (Rep.).........1,791,841
(36.13)
Perot (PfP).............902,667
(18.20)
Others (2)................26,138
(0.52)
Total........4,959,810

1996
Clinton (Dem.).....2,215,819
(49.17)
Dole (Rep.)..........1,801,169
(39.97)
Perot (Ref.)............430,984
(9.56)
Others (3+w/ins).......58,146
(1.29)
Total........4,506,118

2004 page >
2000 page >
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.