Seven U.S. House primaries are contested in Pennsylvania this year—a decade-low


This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Pennsylvania was Feb. 13, 2024.

Forty-five candidates are running for Pennsylvania’s 17 U.S. House districts, including 25 Democrats and 20 Republicans. That’s 2.65 candidates per district, less than in the previous three election cycles. There were 2.82 candidates per district in 2022, 2.83 candidates per district in 2020, and 4.66 in 2018.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • No districts are open this year, meaning all incumbents are running for re-election.
  • Seven candidates are running for the 10th Congressional District, the most candidates running for a district this year. The candidates include Republican incumbent Scott Perry and six Democrats.
  • Seven primaries—four Democratic and three Republican—are contested this year, the fewest this decade. 
  • Three incumbents—two Democrats and one Republican—are in contested primaries. That’s higher than in 2022 and 2020 when two incumbents faced challengers, respectively.
  • The 3rd Congressional District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed to run.

Pennsylvania will hold primary elections on April 23.

In Pennsylvania, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if they do not win an outright majority of votes cast.