The stakes are high, both across the nation and in Pennsylvania, in the 2026 election cycle. But as dizzying as the political prognostication can be, voters in Western Pennsylvania have a manageable number of races to track in the months ahead.

The top of the 2026 ballot appears to be set — almost.

Democratic incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis face no primary opposition in their bids for re-election. And state Treasurer Stacy Garrity faces no challenge in her bid to become the Republican standard-bearer in the gubernatorial race this fall. The only real dispute centers on who her running mate will be: Allegheny County attorney Jason Richey, of Sewickley, appears to have competition for the job of being Garrity’s running mate: Jason Ventre, a former candidate for governor and Westmoreland County commissioner, is also in the hunt. (Garrity has backed Richey’s bid, but in Pennsylvania, party voters choose each part of their ticket separately.)

Based on petitions filed with the Department of State by a March 10 deadline, only a handful of state legislative races in Allegheny County will see competitive primaries on May 19. Just a dozen of those districts can hope to see competition this fall. All four Congressional districts in the region should have candiadates representing both parties.

Those numbers are subject to change: The petitions filed by March 10 will be reviewed over the next week by political rivals looking for paperwork defects and eligibility problems that can end a campaign. Candidates can also mount write-in bids in the primary to become their party’s nominee in the fall, or run as independents. But for now, here are what the match-ups in Allegheny County, and in nearby Congressional races, look like.

U.S. Congress

12th District

Incumbent Democrat Summer Lee will seek re-election to a third term in a congressional district that includes Pittsburgh and some of its outlying suburbs. But she seems likely to face challenges from a couple of familiar names in May and November.

Democrat Will Parker has challenged Lee for the seat before and appears to be fundraising now. Known for occasionally appearing at political events with a bullhorn, he sought to run for U.S. Senate in 2024, and he competed in the 2023 Allegheny County Executive race as well.

The winner of the primary seems likely to face another familiar name: Republican James Hayes is taking another run at the office after losing to Lee last year.

Two other hopefuls — Democrat Adam Forgie and Republican Benson Fechter — appear not to have filed petitions for the race.

14th District

Republican Guy Reschenthaler has held this seat in several counties outlying Pittsburgh since 2019, and in that time, he’s risen to a position as chief deputy whip, helping Republican leadership in the U.S. House corral votes for the party’s agenda. He’s running now for a fifth term in the deep-red district, where he has bested a number of Democratic challengers.

This year, the Democratic champion figures to be Alan Bradstock, a U.S. Army veteran who works as a financial advisor and who also touts previous employment at the FBI.

16th District

Republican Mike Kelly has been a fixture in a district that stretches from Butler County to Erie, and an early adopter and longtime ally of President Donald Trump. He’s brushed aside challenges from Democrats since first being elected in 2010. This year, Mercer County Democrat Justin Wagner seeks to challenge him as an Iraq War veteran who opposes “constant wars,” backs universal health insurance and affordable child care, and seeks to restore “the values that have made America a land of opportunity, compassion, and community for regular people.”

17th District 

Two-term Democratic incumbent Democrat Chris Deluzio looks to have a quiet primary in the district, which includes Beaver County and a broad swath of Allegheny County. But he appears destined to face a challenger in the fall: Two Republicans, Beaver County Sheriff Tony Guy and Jesse James Vodvarka, are seeking to be their party’s nominee.

Though Guy’s bid has been expected since before he filed campaign paperwork last month, his campaign unfolded quietly until Tuesday, when he issued a release formally kicking off his bid with a pledge to “put the needs of southwest Pennsylvania first.”

Vodvarka, of Robinson Township, mounted an unsuccessful bid for the seat in 2024, and his father has run as a dark horse in Senate campaigns before.

Asked Wednesday about having a potential rival this fall, Deluzio said, “I don’t want to get ahead of how far down the MAGA path those folks want to go.”

Pennsylvania State Senate

District 38

Two-term state Sen. Lindsey Williams faces no Democratic challenge this May in the district, which includes portions of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny River Valley and the North Hills suburbs. After winning a razor-thin victory in 2018, the West View resident bested a solid Republican challenger by 11 points four years later.

Another Republican hopeful has filed petitions to challenge her in November: Thomas West, who owns a Lawrenceville men’s fashion store and who ran for mayor of Pittsburgh last year, hopes to topple her. West’s mayoral bid ended in the GOP primary, when he lost to Tony Moreno, but he said that afterwards, “People were coming up to me saying, ‘You need to stay in politics.”

District 42

For some time, there was speculation that Democrat Wayne Fontana, who represents this district covering Pittsburgh and several South Hills communities, might retire after two decades in office. But the former Allegheny County Councilman is running for another term instead. He faces political newcomer Paul Steenkiste.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

District 24

Pittsburgh’s La’Tasha Mayes won this district in the city’s eastern neighborhoods in 2022. She faces a primary challenge in the person of William Anderson, also of Pittsburgh, a longtime Democratic activist and frequent candidate for public office.

District 25

Monroeville Democrat Brandon Markosek inherited this east suburban seat from his father in 2018, and he has kept it in the family despite repeated efforts to topple him. This fall, he can expect a challenge from Plum Republican Amy Noone.

District 28

Republican Jeremy Shaffer, of Pine Township, won this district in the northwest corner of Allegheny County in 2024. Democrats have captured other North Hills suburbs in recent cycles, but the 28th has remained out of their grasp. Two Democrats are vying with each other this spring for a chance to capture the seat and block Shaffer’s first re-election bid: Robert Bertha of West Deer and Jeremy Ferderber of Gibsonia.

District 30

Democratic ER physician Arvind Venkat, of McCandless, helped Democrats capture the North Hills with a win here in 2022. One Republican, McCandless cosmetic surgeon Ehab Akkary, has filed to challenge Venkat this fall.

District 33

Democrat Mandy Steele, of Fox Chapel, was first elected to this Allegheny River Valley district in 2022. Republican Michael Hammill, an O’Hara Township council member, hopes to challenge her this fall.

District 34

Incumbent Abigail Salisbury, of Swissvale, won the seat in a 2023 special election to replace Summer Lee after Lee moved on to Congress. She faced spirited opposition in 2024, and expects to face Todd Elliott Koger Sr., who has competed in a number of election contests before, in the Democratic primary this year.

District 35

Dan Goughnour, a McKeesport Democrat who won this Mon Valley district in a special election to replace the late Matt Gergely last year, will likely face Republican James Edwards of Munhall this fall. Both appear assured of victory in their party primaries this spring.

District 36

Jessica Benham, a Democrat from Pittsburgh’s South Side, has held this seat since 2020, representing part of the city and some suburban areas along the Route 51 corridor. She seems likely to face a challenge from Brentwood Republican Timothy McCune.

District 39

The GOP’s Andrew Kuzma will seek a third term in a Mon Valley seat that has moved toward the Republicans in recent years. Democrats Dylan Altemara and Kellianne Frketic, who like Kuzma call Elizabeth Township home, have other plans. But first they must face each other in the spring in a partial repeat of their primary fight in a county council race last year.

District 40 

Republican incumbent Natalia Mihalek has held this exurban seat that includes Peters Township and much of Upper St. Clair since 2018. Democrat Jonathan Lloyd hopes to thwart her bid for a fifth term.

District 44

This race in Allegheny County’s western suburbs figures to be a rematch of the 2024 campaign: Republican Valerie Gaydos, of Edgeworth, seems once again poised to face Glen Osborne Democrat Hadley Haas in November. Neither candidate faces a rival in the primary. Gaydos won by a comfortable 7 points last time, but Democrats hope for a better outcome amid a more favorable national climate this go-around.

District 45

The race in this district’s western and southwestern suburbs may be the county’s most closely watched race. It is certainly the most crowded. The seat has been held by Democratic Anita Kulik, who is retiring at the end of the year. Because it skews a bit more conservative than many other House districts, Republicans see a potential pick-up opportunity.

No fewer than four Democrats are seeking the seat: attorney Brittany Bloam, of Robinson Township, Allegheny County Councilor Pat Catena, of Carnegie, Fred Coleman, also of Carnegie, and a late-breaking entrant, Kennedy Township’s Cameron Grosh, a paralegal who works in immigration law.

Two Republicans from Robinson Township are also seeking the seat: Rocco Cozza and James Julius.

District 46

Republican Jason Ortitay of Cecil Township has held this district, which straddles Allegheny County’s southern border with Washington County, for more than a decade. The likely champion for Democrats is party stalwart Mike Crossey of South Fayette, a former Allegheny County Councilor and active teachers’ union member.

Uncontested state House races

Only one candidate filed election petitions in the following House districts, although that doesn’t foreclose the possibility of challengers this fall, should candidates seek to run as independents or engineer a write-in bid on the other party’s primary ballot.

District 19

Democrat Aerion Abney has held this Pittsburgh-based district since 2022. He now chairs the county’s House delegation in Harrisburg and faces no obvious challenger for another term.

District 20

Emily Kinkead has represented the 20th, which includes Ross Township, some Ohio River Valley towns, and a sliver of Pittsburgh’s North Side, since 2020. With no clear rival in either party, she seems likely to continue doing so.

District 21

Pittsburgh Democrat Lindsay Powell won this seat in Pittsburgh and nearby northern suburbs in a 2023 special election to replace Sara Innamorato after she became county executive. She appears to have a clear path to another term.

District 23

Empires may rise and fall, and empires may crumble into the sea. But Squirrel Hill’s Dan Frankel is a constant, having served in the House since 1998. The Democrat, who chairs the state House’s Health committee, faces no obvious opposition this year.

District 27

Pittsburgh Democrat Dan Deasy has been a presence in Pittsburgh politics since 2008, and his bids for re-election have drawn only token opposition, if any at all. This year doesn’t look to be any different.

District 32

Democrat Joe McAndrew of Penn Hills won his seat in a 2023 special election. He appears unopposed in his quest for another term.

District 38

Democrat John Inglis, of West Mifflin, faces no obvious rival in his first re-election bid for this upper Mon Valley district.

District 42

Dormont Democrat Jennifer Mozzocco, who just won a special election this winter to replace now-Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Dan Miller for the balance of his legislative term, is the only candidate on the ballot for a full two-year term in this solidly blue suburban South Hills district.