Elections for 25 of the 50 districts in the Pennsylvania Senate will take place on Nov. 3, 2026.

Ahead of the general elections, Republicans have a 27-23 majority in the chamber. Republicans have controlled the chamber since gaining a majority in the 1994 general elections.

Democrats last had a majority in the chamber in 1993, after State Sen. Frank Pecora (D) switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, resulting in a 25-25 split. Lt. Gov. Mark Singel (D) held the tiebreaking vote in the chamber.

Democrats need to win at least three districts in 2026 to gain control, and Republicans need to lose no more than one to maintain their majority.

Pennsylvania is one of 11 states with a divided government ahead of the general elections. Democrats control the governorship and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, while Republicans control the state Senate. The state has had a divided government since 2015. The last time the state had a Democratic trifecta was in 1993, and the last time it had a Republican trifecta was in 2014. Ballotpedia assessed a moderate possibility of either party gaining a trifecta as a result of the 2026 general elections.

Both the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) and the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) are targeting the Pennsylvania General Assembly in the 2026 general elections. According to a Ballotpedia analysis, Pennsylvania is one of 30 states where both parties are targeting districts in the state legislature.

The DLCC is targeting six state Senate districts, including two Democratic-held districts and four Republican-held districts. The DLCC official website states that they will "work to gain ground in the Senate which has half of its seats up this year. With the legislature under split control, the Pennsylvania Senate GOP majority has rubber-stamped Trump's disastrous agenda and blocked Democrats from advancing solutions for working families at every opportunity."

The RSLC is targeting Pennsylvania as one of eight states to focus on preserving its members. According to RSLC President Edith Jorge-Tuñón, "With the key understanding being not backtracking on the progress already made in these states, there are opportunities to expand GOP control where we are seeing frustrations in blue states."

According to WHYY's Carmen Russell-Sluchansky, "Many of the seats in question share a defining characteristic: Voters regularly split their tickets. Some Republican-held districts supported Democratic statewide candidates in recent elections. Others continue electing Democratic legislators even after voting comfortably for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election."

Ballotpedia considers 10 districts to be battlegrounds. These include districts where the margin of victory (MOV) in the last general elections was within five percentage points, where a district is open, where a national organization is targeting, or where a district features a notable challenger to an incumbent. Incumbents are running in all 10 districts. To read more about these districts, click here.

Elections are happening in 2026 for 88 of the 99 state legislative chambers across the country. In total, 6,137 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats are up for election in 2026.