The 2026 midterm elections are here and, once again, Pennsylvania retains its keystone status.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students participating in their first election, voting can be overwhelming. Everything from the governor\u2019s race to both the Pennsylvania and U.S. House of Representatives will be on the ballot for Downtown residents. Here is what to know before filling out a ballot on November 3.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students registered to vote under an on-campus address, polling will take place at the Human Services Building on Smithfield Street. Polling locations can be searched for by address on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth website. On November 3, all polling places in Allegheny County are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone in line at or before 8 p.m. will be allowed to cast their vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First time voters and those voting at a new location are required to come equipped with a valid form of ID. A driver\u2019s license, passport, student ID, employee ID and government-issued ID are all valid forms of identification, meaning a Point Park ID card will do just fine. If none of those are available, a voter registration card is among the list of accepted non-photo IDs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Governor: Incumbent Josh Shapiro (D) vs. Stacy Garrity (R)<\/p>\n
Every Pennsylvanian can vote in the governor\u2019s race where Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is running for reelection as the Democratic incumbent against Republican candidate Stacy Garrity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shapiro, who previously served as the state\u2019s attorney general, is praised by Democrats for protecting abortion and healthcare rights at the state level, and criticized for stifling small business with policies like the recent Act 57.<\/p>\n
Garrity currently serves as the state\u2019s treasurer and was endorsed in the governor\u2019s race by President Donald Trump. According to her campaign website, Garrity is running on her firm opposition to the rise of data center developments, one of the most prominent bipartisan issues of the midterms. Shapiro, who once clashed with Garrity on the issue, recently rescinded his support for the expansion of energy giants in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SGA President and Green Party member, Riley Mahon, said Shapiro will likely retain his position, citing the rarity of Republicans in the office. Tom Corbett, whose term ended in 2015, was the last republican in the seat. Before Corbett, the state had been blue since 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a competitive race,\u201d Mahon said. \u201cShe [Garrity] is going to lose by at least ten points.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to a report by ABC, Shapiro is leading 59% to 36% against Garrity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. House: Incumbent Summer Lee (D) vs. James Hayes (R)<\/p>\n
The U.S. House of Representatives holds elections every two years. Congressional District 12, which includes the city of Pittsburgh, will be on the ballot this election. Representative Summer Lee, who is running as the Democratic incumbent against Republican candidate James Hayes, is up for reelection.<\/p>\n
Lee is an advocate for raising the federal minimum wage, an issue that was recently shot down by the state Senate, and increasing environmental protections. Hayes, whose career background is in banking, is running on policies to decrease violent crime by financially backing law enforcement, according to his campaign website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both candidates are union advocates but are divided on the issue of Israel\u2019s military operations in Gaza. Lee was one of the first lawmakers to call for a ceasefire and an end to U.S. weapons supply to Israel. In opposition, Hayes expressed his plan to stand with Israel as part of his campaign promises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
State House: Aerion Abney (D)<\/p>\n
Hyperlocally, the State House, which also holds elections every two years, will be on the ballot as well. The Golden Triangle is embedded in Legislative District 19, where Democratic Representative Aerion Abney has been serving since 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abney is running uncontested for the third time. According to the PA House Archives, the seat has been blue since the creation of legislative districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The State Assembly is currently split, with Democrats holding a three seat majority in the House and Republicans holding a four seat majority in the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
State Senate: Wayna Fontana (D)<\/p>\n
Although Pennsylvania State Senators serve four-year terms, state Senate elections occur every two years. This allows for roughly half of the governing body to appear on the ballot each election cycle.<\/p>\n
Downtown\u2019s State Senate District 42, represented by Democratic State Senator Wayne Fontana, will be on the ballot this November. Like Abney in the State House, Fontana, who has held his seat since 2005, is running uncontested.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years have passed since the last presidential election cycle, when Pennsylvania swung red in support of Trump and two U.S. House seats were overturned by Republicans.<\/p>\n
In this coming election, Pennsylvania\u2019s role cannot be overstated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The U.S. House is currently led by a five-seat Republican majority. Out of Pennsylvania\u2019s 17 representatives, Republicans hold ten seats to Democrats\u2019 seven.<\/p>\n
\u00a0In the 2024 election, Pennsylvania U.S. House seats representing Districts 7 and 8 were flipped by Republicans. To regain control of the U.S. House, Democrats need to win five seats nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 midterm elections are here and, once again, Pennsylvania retains its keystone status.\u00a0 For students participating in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-316351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}