Political party strength in Pennsylvania facts for kids

Partisan identification in the electorate

As of early fall 2016 registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 919,000 in Pennsylvania, with 4.1 million Democrats and 3.2 million Republicans. 452,669 voters were registered with non-major parties and 702,482 defined themselves as non-affiliated.

Partisan affiliation of elected officials

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania:

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Attorney General
• State Auditor General
• State Treasurer

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the United States Senate
• State delegation to the United States House of Representatives

Pennsylvania currently has 20 electoral votes based on their 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 2 United States Senators. The table below indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes for the years in which a presidential election was held.

The parties are as follows:       Anti-Administration (AA);       Anti-Masonic (AM);       Democratic (D);       Democratic-Republican (DR);       Federalist (F);       Jacksonian (J);       no party (N), or unknown;       National Union (NU);       National Republican (NR);       Opposition (O);       Pro-Administration (PA);       Progressive (P);       Republican (R);       Whig (W); and       a tie or coalition within a group of elected officials.

Year	Executive offices					State Legislature		United States Congress			Electoral College votes
	Governor	Lieutenant Governor	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1777					David Rittenhouse			began in 1789
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789					Christian Febiger			William Maclay (AA)	Robert Morris (PA)	6PA, 2AA	George Washington (N) and John Adams (F) Y
1790
1791	Thomas Mifflin (F)					10F, 8DR	36F, 33DR	vacant		4PA, 4AA
1792							42F, 27DR
1793						9F, 9DR				8AA, 5PA
1794						10F, 8DR	48F, 21DR	Albert Gallatin (AA)
1795						14F, 10DR	49F, 29DR		William Bingham (F)	8DR, 5F
1796						15F, 9DR	45F, 33DR			7DR, 6F	Thomas Jefferson (DR) and John Adams (F)
1797					Peter Baynton		44F, 34DR	James Ross (F)		8DR, 5F
1798							41F, 37DR
1799							47F, 31DR			9DR, 4F
1800	Thomas McKean (DR)					16F, 8DR	41DR, 37F				Thomas Jefferson (DR) Y and John Adams (F)
1801					Jacob Carpenter	13F, 11DR	55DR, 23F		Peter Muhlenberg (DR)	10DR, 3F
									George Logan (DR)
1802					Isaac Weaver	17DR, 8F	71DR, 15F
1803						21DR, 4F	77DR, 9F	Samuel Maclay (DR)		18DR
1804						24DR, 1F	81DR, 5F				Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton (DR) Y
1805						25DR	78DR, 8F			17DR, 1F
1806						15 Const., 10DR	53 Const., 33DR
1807					William Findlay (DR)	13 Const., 12DR	46DR, 40 Const.		Andrew Gregg (DR)	15DR, 3F
1808						14DR, 7 Quid, 4F	43DR, 23F, 20 Quid				James Madison and George Clinton (DR) Y
1809	Simon Snyder (DR)					19DR, 7 Quid, 5F	74DR, 21F	Michael Leib (DR)		16DR, 2F
1810						22DR, 6F, 3 Quid	73DR, 15F, 7 Quid
1811						21DR, 7F, 2 Old School R, 1 Quid	72DR, 17F, 6 Quid			17DR, 1F
1812						26DR, 5F	84DR, 11F				James Madison and Elbridge Gerry (DR) Y
1813							77DR, 18F		Abner Lacock (DR)	22DR, 1F
1814						25DR, 6F	85DR, 10F			21DR, 2F
1815						21DR, 10F	71DR, 24F	Jonathan Roberts (DR)		19DR, 4F
1816						19DR, 12F	71DR, 26F				James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins (DR) Y
1817					R. M. Crain		57DR, 30F, 10 Old School R
1818	William Findlay (DR)						55DR, 42F
1819						20DR, 11F	64DR, 33F		Walter Lowrie (DR)
1820					John B. Trevor	23DR, 6F, 2 Old School R	67DR, 24F, 6 Old School R			18DR, 5F
1821	Joseph Hiester (DR)				William Clark	20DR, 11F	52F, 45DR	vacant		15DR, 8F
1822						17DR, 14F	67DR, 30F	William Findlay (DR)		16DR, 7F
1823						23DR, 10F	71DR, 29F			20DR, 6F
1824	John Andrew Shulze (DR)					21DR, 11F, 1?	77DR, 23F				Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun (DR)
1825						26DR, 7F	79DR, 21F		William Marks (NR)	14J, 11DR, 1F
1826						27DR, 6F	77DR, 23F			17J, 9DR
1827					Alexander Mahon		74DR, 26F	Isaac D. Barnard (J)		22J, 3DR, 1NR
1828						26J, 7NR	76J, 22NR, 2 vac.				Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun (D) Y
1829							89J, 11NR			24J, 1AM, 1NR
1830	George Wolf (J)					26J, 6NR, 1AM	87J, 13AM
1831						25J, 5NR, 4AM	72J, 28AM		William Wilkins (J)	17J, 7AM, 2NR
1832						23J, 6AM, 4NR	74J, 22AM, 4NR	George M. Dallas (J)			Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren (D) Y
1833						22J, 9AM, 2NR	61J, 33AM, 5NR, 1?	Samuel McKean (J)		14J, 10AM, 4NR
1834						24J, 7AM, 2NR	64J, 25AM, 11NR
1835					Joseph Lawrence	25J, 6AM, 2W	62J, 27AM, 11W			17J, 7AM, 4NR
1836	Joseph Ritner (AM)				Daniel Sturgeon (D)	23D, 9AM, 1W	72AM/W, 28D				Martin Van Buren and Richard Mentor Johnson (D) Y
1837						15D, 12W, 6A-M	72D, 21A-M, 7W		James Buchanan (D)	16D, 7AM, 3W, 2J
1838						19W, 14D	56D, 44W
1839	David R. Porter (D)		18W, 15D	vacant		17D, 6W, 5AM
1840			Almon H. Reed	17D, 16W	69D, 31W			William Henry Harrison and John Tyler (W) Y
1841			John Gilmore (D)	20W, 13D	55W, 45D	15D, 13W
1842			Job Mann (D)	17W, 16D	64D, 34W, 2 Wkngmn
1843				19D, 14W	57D, 40W, 2 Wkngmn, 1I				12D, 12W
1844				22D, 11W	58D, 42W			13W, 11D	James K. Polk and George M. Dallas (D) Y
1845	Francis R. Shunk (D)		James Ross Snowden	21D, 11W, 1A	51D, 41W, 8A	Daniel Sturgeon (D)	Simon Cameron (D)	12D, 10W, 2A
1846				18W, 14D, 1A	67D, 33W
1847			John Banks		56W, 44D			16W, 7D, 1A
1848			Arnold Plumber	19W, 14D	64D, 36W			15W, 8D, 1A	Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (W) Y
	William F. Johnston (W)
1849			Gideon J. Ball	21W, 12D	50D, 45W, 5A		James Cooper (W)	11W, 11D, 1A, 1FS
1850			John M. Bickel	17D, 16W	59D, 41W
1851				Ephraim Banks	16W, 16D, 1I	60D, 36W, 2ID, 1IW, 1 vac.		Richard Brodhead (D)		15D, 9W
1852	William Bigler (D)	17W, 16D			58D, 37W, 5A	Franklin Pierce and William R. King (D) Y
1853		17W, 15D, 1A			62D, 38W				16D, 9W
1854		Joseph Bailey (D)	18D, 14W, 1A		70D, 26W, 4A
1855	James Pollock (W)	Eli Slifer	17D, 15W, 1A		46W, 32D, 22A		vacant		13O, 7D, 3W, 1R, 1A
1856		Henry S. Magraw	17D, 16 Fus.		66D, 34 Fus.	William Bigler (D)	James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge (D) Y
1857			Jacob Fryle, Jr.	18 Fus., 15D	53D, 47 Fus.			Simon Cameron (R)	15D, 10R
1858	William F. Packer (D)			21D, 12R	68D, 30R, 2I				14D, 11R
1859		Eli Slifer		17D, 16R	67R, 33D				20R, 5D
1860			Thomas E. Cochran	21R, 12D	66R, 34D		Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin (R) Y
1861	Andrew Gregg Curtin (R)	Henry Dunning Moore (R)		27R, 6D	71R, 29D	David Wilmot (R)		Edgar Cowan (R)	19R, 6D
1862				23R, 10D	51D, 49R				17R, 8D
1863		Isaac Slenker	William V. McGrath	21R, 12D	55D, 45R	Charles R. Buckalew (D)			12R, 12D
1864			Henry Dunning Moore (R)	17R, 16D	52R, 48D		Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson (NU) Y
1865			William H. Kemble	20R, 13D	64R, 36D				15R, 9D
1866		John F. Hartranft (R)		21R, 12D	67R, 33D				16R, 8D
1867	John W. Geary (R)				62R, 38D			Simon Cameron (R)	18R, 6D
1868			W. W. Irwin	19R, 14D	54R, 46D		Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax (R) Y
1869			Robert W. Mackey	18R, 15D	62R, 38D	John Scott (R)			16R, 8D
1870			W. W. Irwin		60R, 40D				18R, 6D
1871			Robert W. Mackey	17D, 16R	55R, 45D				13R, 11D
1872				17R, 16D	63R, 39D, 1I		Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wilson (R) Y
		C. D. Brigham
		Harrison Allen (R)
1873	John F. Hartranft (R)			18R, 14D, 1LR	60R, 39D, 1I				22R, 5D
1874				20R, 12D, 1LR	57R, 43D
1875		John Latta (R)		Justus F. Temple	30R, 20D	110D, 89R, 1I, 1 Proh.			William A. Wallace (D)	17D, 10R
1876			Henry Rawle		29R, 21D		18D, 9R			Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler (R) Y
1877					31R, 19D	119R, 81D, 1ID		17R, 10D
1878			William P. Schell	Amos C. Noyes
1879	Henry M. Hoyt (R)	Charles Warren Stone (R)			32R, 17D, 1GB	107R, 77D, 17GB		17R, 8D, 2GB
1880				Samuel Butler						James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur (R) Y
1881			John A. Lemon			121R, 78D, 1GB, 1 Fus. Dem.		John I. Mitchell (R)	18R, 7D, 2GB
1882				Silas M. Bailey
1883	Robert E. Pattison (D)	Chauncey Forward Black (D)			30R, 20D	113D, 88R			15R, 12D, 1GB
1884			Jerome B. Niles	William Livsey						James G. Blaine and John A. Logan (R)
1885					31R, 19D	140R, 60D, 1GBR	James Donald Cameron (R)		20R, 8D
1886				Matthew S. Quay (R)
1887	James A. Beaver (R)	William T. Davies (R)	A. Wilson Norris	William Livsey	34R, 16D	131R, 69D, 1GBL		Matthew S. Quay (R)
1888				William B. Hart						Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton (R) Y
			Thomas McCamant
1889				William Livsey		144R, 60D			21 R, 7D
1890				Henry K. Boyer
1891	Robert E. Pattison (D)	Louis Arthur Watres (D)			31R, 19D	122R, 79D, 3 Fus.			18R, 10D
1892			David McMurtrie Gregg (R)	John W. Morrison					17R, 11D	Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid (R)
1893					33R, 17D	135R, 69D			20R, 10D
1894				Samuel M. Jackson
1895	Daniel H. Hastings (R)	Walter Lyon (R)	Amos H. Mylin		44R, 6D	175R, 29D			28R, 2D
1896				Benjamin J. Haywood						William McKinley and Garret Hobart (R) Y
1897						172R, 32D	Boies Penrose (R)		27R, 3D
1898			Levi G. McCauley (R)	James S. Beacom (R)
1899	William A. Stone (R)	John P. S. Gobin (R)			37R, 13D	127R, 71D, 6 Fus.		vacant	20R, 10D
1900				James E. Barnett (R)						William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt (R) Y
1901			Edmund B. Hardenbergh (R)		38R, 12D	156R, 48D		Matthew S. Quay (R)	26R, 4D
1902				Frank G. Harris (R)
1903	Samuel W. Pennypacker (R)	William M. Brown (R)			40R, 10D	160R, 44D			28R, 4D
1904			William P. Snyder (R)	William L. Mathues (R)					29R, 3D	Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. Fairbanks (R) Y
								Philander C. Knox (R)
1905						187R, 17D			31R, 1D
1906				William H. Berry (D)
1907	Edwin Sydney Stuart (R)	Robert S. Murphy (R)	Robert K. Young (R)			157R, 50D			25R, 7D
1908				John O. Sheatz (R)						William Howard Taft and James S. Sherman (R) Y
1909					39R, 11D	173R, 34D		George T. Oliver (R)	27R, 5D
1910			A.E. Sisson (R)
1911	John K. Tener (R)	John Merriman Reynolds (R)		Charles Frederick Wright (R)	38R, 18D	162R, 44D, 1S			23R, 9D
1912									24R, 8D	Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson (P)
1913			Archibald W. Powell (R)	Robert K. Young (R)	34R, 13D, 3P	127R, 57D, 14P, 9 Wash.			22R, 12D, 2P
1914
1915	Martin Grove Brumbaugh (R)	Frank B. McClain (R)			38R, 11D, 1P	164R, 41D, 1S, 1P			30R, 6D
1916										Charles Evans Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks (R)
1917			Charles A. Snyder (R)	Harmon M. Kephart (R)	39R, 10D, 1P	169R, 37D, 1S, 1P		Philander C. Knox (R)	29R, 6D, 1P
1918									28R, 7D, 1P
1919	William Cameron Sproul (R)	Edward E. Beidleman (R)			44R, 6D	184R, 23D			29R, 7D
1920									30R, 6D	Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge (R) Y
1921			Samuel S. Lewis (R)	Charles A. Snyder (R)	47R, 3D	193R, 14D			35R, 1D
								William E. Crow (R)
1922							George Wharton Pepper (R)
								David A. Reed (R)
1923	Gifford Pinchot (R)	David J. Davis (R)			43R, 7D	167R, 41D			30R, 6D
1924										Calvin Coolidge and Charles G. Dawes (R) Y
1925			Edward Martin (R)	Samuel S. Lewis (R)	42R, 8D	194R, 14D			36R
1926
1927	John Stuchell Fisher (R)	Arthur James (R)			45R, 5D	191R, 17D	William Scott Vare (R)		34R, 2D
1928										Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis (R) Y
1929			Charles A. Waters (R)	Edward Martin (R)	44R, 6D	192R, 16D			35R, 1D
1930							Joseph R. Grundy (R)		36R
1931	Gifford Pinchot (R)	Edward C. Shannon (R)			46R, 4D	184R, 22D, 2S	James J. Davis (R)		33R, 3D
1932										Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis (R)
1933			Frank E. Baldwin (R)	Charles A. Waters (R)	43R, 7D	140R, 65D, 2I, 1S			23R, 11D
1934									22R, 12D
1935	George Howard Earle III (D)	Thomas Kennedy (D)			31R, 19D	117D, 89R, 2S		Joseph F. Guffey (D)	23D, 11R
1936										Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner (D) Y
1937			Warren R. Roberts (D)	F. Clair Ross (D)	34D, 16R	154D, 54R			27D, 7R
1938
1939	Arthur James (R)	Samuel S. Lewis (R)			27R, 23D	129R, 79D			19R, 15D
1940										Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry A. Wallace (D) Y
1941			F. Clair Ross (D)	G. Howard Wagner (R)	32R, 18D	126D, 82R			19D, 15R
1942
1943	Edward Martin (R)	John C. Bell, Jr. (R)				132R, 76D			20R, 13D
1944									21R, 12D	Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman Y
1945			Ted A. Rosenberg	Ramsey S. Black (D)		109R, 99D	Francis J. Myers (D)		18R, 15D
			G. Howard Wagner (R)
1946									19R, 14D
1947	John C. Bell, Jr. (R)	vacant			34R, 16D	170R, 38D		Edward Martin (R)	28R, 5D
	James H. Duff (R)	Daniel B. Strickler (R)
1948										Thomas E. Dewey and Earl Warren (R)
1949			Weldon B. Heyburn (R)	Charles R. Barber (R)	35R, 15D	117R, 91D			17R, 16D
1950
1951	John S. Fine (R)	Lloyd H. Wood (R)			30R, 20D	120R, 88D	James H. Duff (R)		20R, 13D
1952										Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon (R) Y
1953			Charles R. Barber (R)	Weldon B. Heyburn (R)	32R, 18D	110R, 98D			19R, 11D
1954
1955	George M. Leader (D)	Roy E. Furman (D)			26R, 24D	112D, 98R			16R, 14D
1956
1957			Charles C. Smith (R)	Robert F. Kent (R)	27R, 23D	126R, 84D	Joseph S. Clark (D)		17R, 13D
1958
1959	David L. Lawrence (D)	John Morgan Davis (D)			28R, 22D	108D, 102R		Hugh Scott (R)	16D, 14R
1960										John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (D) Y
1961			Thomas Z. Minehart (D)	Grace M. Sloan (D)	25D, 25R	109D, 101R			16R, 14D
1962
1963	William Scranton (R)	Raymond P. Shafer (R)			27R, 23D	108R, 102D			14R, 13D
1964										Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey (D) Y
1965			Grace M. Sloan (D)	Thomas Z. Minehart (D)	28R, 22D	116D, 93R			15D, 12R
1966
1967	Raymond P. Shafer (R)	Raymond J. Broderick (R)			27R, 23D	104R, 99D			14D, 13R
1968										Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie (D)
1969			Bob Casey (D)	Grace M. Sloan (D)		107D, 96R	Richard S. Schweiker (R)
1970
1971	Milton Shapp (D)	Ernest P. Kline (D)			26D, 24R	113D, 90R
1972										Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew (R) Y
1973						107R, 96D			13D, 12R
1974
1975					30D, 20R	113D, 90R			14D, 11R
1976										Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale (R) Y
1977			Al Benedict (D)	Robert E. Casey (D)	31D, 19R	118D, 85R		H. John Heinz III (R)	17D, 8R
1978
1979	Dick Thornburgh (R)	William Scranton, III (R)			28D, 22R	102R, 101D			15D, 10R
1980										Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush (R) Y
1981				LeRoy S. Zimmerman (R)	Budd Dwyer (R)	26R, 24D	103R, 100D		Arlen Specter (R)		13D, 12R
1982
1983						27R, 23D	103D, 100R				13D, 10R
1984
1985			Donald A. Bailey (D)
1986
1987	Bob Casey (D)	Mark Singel (D)			G. Davis Greene (D)	26R, 24D	102D, 101R				12D, 11R
1988										George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle (R) Y
1989			Ernie Preate (R)	Barbara Hafer (R)	Catherine Baker Knoll (D)	27R, 23D	104D, 99R
1990
1991						26R, 24D	107D, 96R				12R, 11D
								Harris Wofford (D)
1992										Bill Clinton and Al Gore (D) Y
1993						25D, 25R	105D, 98R				11D, 10R
1994						26R, 24D
1995	Tom Ridge (R)	Mark S. Schweiker (R)				29R, 21D	102R, 101D	Rick Santorum (R)
			Tom Corbett (R)
1996
1997			D. Michael Fisher (R)	Bob Casey, Jr. (D)	Barbara Hafer (R)	30R, 20D	104R, 99D
1998
1999							103R, 100D
2000										Al Gore and Joe Lieberman (D)
2001							104R, 99D				11R, 10D
	Mark S. Schweiker (R)	Robert Jubelirer (R)
2002
2003	Ed Rendell (D)	Catherine Baker Knoll (D)			Barbara Hafer (D)	29R, 21D	109D, 94R				12R, 7D
2004										John Kerry and John Edwards (D)
			Jerry Pappert (R)
2005			Tom Corbett (R)	Jack Wagner (D)	Bob Casey, Jr. (D)	30R, 20D	110R, 93D
2006
2007					Robin Wiessmann (D)	29R, 21D	102D, 101R	Bob Casey, Jr. (D)			11D, 8R
2008										Barack Obama and Joe Biden (D) Y
		Joseph B. Scarnati (R)
2009					Robert McCord (D)	30R, 20D	104D, 99R				12D, 7R
									Arlen Specter (D)
2010
2011	Tom Corbett (R)	Jim Cawley (R)	Linda L. Kelly (R)				112R, 91D		Pat Toomey (R)		12R, 7D
2012
2013			Kathleen Kane (D)	Eugene DePasquale (D)		27R, 23D	111R, 92D				13R, 5D
2014
2015	Tom Wolf (D)	Michael J. Stack III (D)			Tim Reese (I)	30R, 20D	120R, 83D
2016						31R, 19D	119R, 84D			Donald Trump and Mike Pence (R ) Y
			Bruce Beemer (D)
2017			Josh Shapiro (D)		Joe Torsella (D)	34R, 16D	121R, 82D
Year	Governor	Lieutenant Governor	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House	Electoral College votes
	Executive offices					State Legislature		United States Congress