WASHINGTON (TNS) — Pennsylvania played an outsized role in the 2024 elections. It can expect a similar role in 2026.
The Keystone State will be home to more competitive races than anywhere else but California, according to the House Democrats’ super political action committee. Arizona and Michigan, two other presidential swing states, also have three targeted contests.
The House Majority PAC on Wednesday already listed 28 districts where the group expects to target Republican incumbents two years from now. None of the 2026 contests are in Western Pennsylvania, where U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, was considered the only vulnerable incumbent but won a second term by almost eight percentage points.
Three of them are in elsewhere in the state — Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley, who ousted Democratic Rep. Susan Wild last month; Rob Bresnahan in northeastern Pennsylvania, who defeated Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright; and Rep. Scott Perry in the Harrisburg area, who survived a strong challenge from Janelle Stelson by just 5,000 votes.
Had the Democrats prevailed in all three races last month, they’d be the ones electing a House speaker in January.
The House Majority PAC said in a campaign memo that it is already recruiting candidates for the next election. When the 119th Congress convenes in January, the Republicans will hold no more than a five-seat edge, and that’s before GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Michael Waltz of Florida leave Congress to take posts in Donald Trump’s administration and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida vacates his seat.
“Trump’s lead in the 2024 popular vote created incredibly tough headwinds for our candidates, and we faced a national environment that trended towards 6% more Republican than 2020,” the PAC said in a campaign memo announcing a new recruitment fund “to recruit and prepare potential candidates earlier than ever.”
A spokesman for House Republicans’ political arm said he wasn’t worried. The House GOP maintained their majority though lost two seats.
“In the most embarrassing way, the Democrat Party lost two congressional seats and failed to pick up any Republican targets across Pennsylvania because they were too obsessed with catering to the extremists of their party,” spokesman Mike Marinella said. “While Republicans work to deliver results for Pennsylvanians, national Democrats will continue to find ways to distract voters from their radical policies that costed them the House, Senate and White House.”
