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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WFMZ) — Democratic challenger Mark Pinsley declared victory in Pennsylvania’s 16th Senate District race.
If the ballot for voters in the district looked familiar, that’s because it was. The same two candidates — Republican Jarrett Coleman and Democrat Mark Pinsley — faced each other in 2022, and they did so again here in 2026.
At least check, he’s beating Republican Jarrett Coleman by a few thousand votes, but the race has yet to be officially decided.
Early results showed Pinsley having more than double the number of Coleman’s votes, but the gap between the two candidates narrowed as election night went on.
The 16th District covers upper Bucks and western Lehigh counties, including parts of Allentown.
Pinsley was also on the ballot as the Democrats’ nominee in 2018, when he tried to unseat Republican Pat Browne. Coleman took care of that four years later, when he defeated Browne in 2022’s GOP primary election.
This time around, Coleman was the incumbent seeking a second term, hoping to keep the district’s seat from being turned over to a Democrat for the first time in three decades.
Coleman is a former airline pilot and Parkland School Board member; Pinsley serves as Lehigh County’s controller.
The 16th District race had been singled out by Spotlight PA as one of Democrats’ top four flip opportunities in the state Senate. Others were the 24th District in Berks and Montgomery counties and the 40th District in Lackawanna, Monroe, and Wayne counties.
Republicans hold 27 of the upper chamber’s 50 seats, half of which were up for grabs in Tuesday’s election. Democrats haven’t held the majority since 1993.
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