Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania will keep its divided legislature thanks to split-ticket voters

Published

2 years ago

November 9, 2024

Pennsylvania will keep its divided legislature thanks to split-ticket voters

Pennsylvania’s red shift in the 2024 election wasn’t isolated to the presidential race.

Statewide races for attorney general, auditor general and state treasurer all went to the Republican candidates, and the AP declared Republican David McCormick the winner against Democratic incumbent Bob Casey in the state’s U.S. Senate race – although the very tight margin, which could trigger an automatic recount.

Pennsylvania was and still is the swingiest of the swing states. In fact, going into the 2024 election, it was the only U.S. state to have a divided legislature. Republicans had a majority in the Senate, but Democrats held a one-vote majority in the House.

Surprisingly, the composition of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, including its split control, has remained largely the same after the 2024 voting.

As a Philadelphia-based political science professor who focuses on state and local politics, I believe Pennsylvania’s General Assembly remained so stable in the face of statewide electoral upheaval for three reasons: a lack of competitive state legislative districts, the small size of those districts and the fact that some Pennsylvania voters still vote for the representative and not the party despite the country’s stark political divide.

Republican David McCormick, right, appears to have beaten three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey by about half of a percentage point.
Matt Rourke/AP

Slight churn in PA Senate

Let’s look at the light churn in the state Senate first.

Democrat Patty Kim won the 15th Senate district in Dauphin County, which had previously been held by a Republican who retired.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Republican challenger Joe Picozzi beat incumbent Democrat Jimmy Dillon in a tight race in the 5th Senate district in Northeast Philadelphia. Picozzi is poised to become the first Republican state senator to represent Philly in over 20 years.

The other senators who were up for reelection kept their seats. So, with one Democratic pickup and one for the Republicans, control of the state senate remains unchanged.

A few tough races in the PA House

All 203 seats were up for grabs in the House. While the vast majority had clear front-runners, there were some tough races. These were most notably in the “collar counties” that surround Philadelphia.

One was the 172nd House district, which covers a part of relatively Republican northeast Philadelphia but also extends into neighboring Montgomery County. This was the district where incumbent Kevin Boyle – the brother of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle – lost the Democratic primary after he had an outburst at a bar that made news headlines. So there was no incumbent in the race. The Democratic candidate, Sean Dougherty, squeaked out a victory with a less than 500-vote margin.

Then there was the 144th House district in Bucks County, a swing county that flipped red in terms of having more registered Republican voters than Democrats just a few months before the election.

Two years ago, Brian Munroe, a Democrat, narrowly won his seat – a seat that had been held by a Republican for over half a century. He faced another competitive race in 2024 and appears to have defeated his Republican challenger, Daniel McPhillips, by about 1,000 votes.

What clinched Democrats’ one-vote majority in the state House was the race in the 72nd House district in deep-red Cambria County.

Cambria is a county in the middle of the state that favored Trump by 36 percentage points. Yet in the 72nd district, Democratic incumbent Frank Burns beat his challenger, Republican Amy Bradley, by nearly 1,000 votes.

This was a close race, but what is amazing is that it was competitive at all. In 2020, Burns won with 52.7% of the vote, despite more than two-thirds of voters in the county choosing Trump that year.

Man with beard and wearing black Pittsburgh Pirates ballcap casts ballot behind screen that says 'I Voted!' — A voter casts his ballot in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, the only county in western Pennsylvania that sided with Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images

Some voters still split their ticket

Probably since the 1960s, but definitely since the 1990s, Americans have become more partisan. This typically means that they are more likely to vote a party ticket and not split their ticket.

In 2020, for instance, survey data from the Pew Research Center found that only 4% of voters who supported either Biden or Trump supported a Senate candidate from the opposing party.

And, to a great extent, this was also the case in the election on Nov. 5 in Pennsylvania. In all of the statewide races, the winning and losing candidates’ percentages were within 4 percentage points of their fellow partisans up and down the ticket.

But a few Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives won in their elections despite the fact that they are in relatively deep-red parts of the state. This includes Frank Burns in the 72nd district and also Robert Matzie in the 16th district in Beaver County. Beaver County sits on the western edge of the state between Allegheny County and Ohio in strongly Republican country – it voted for Trump by 21 points. Yet, Matzie beat his Republican challenger, Michael Perich, by more than 1,500 votes.

Men wearing red Trump baseball caps walk past political candidate lawn signs and people lined up to vote — Voters in Beaver County overwhelmingly chose Trump, but some split their tickets on a down-ballot state House race.
Jeff Swensen via Getty Images

Small districts, microcommunities

Part of the explanation for why at least some Democrats can buck the red wave is Pennsylvania’s relatively small state House districts.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has 203 members in 203 districts. Since the state population is about 13 million, each district has close to 64,000 people in it. Compare that with the Ohio legislature, where each of the 99 state House districts has about 119,000 people. In New York state, each state House district has about 134,000 people.

As a result, Pennsylvania’s small House districts can capture microcommunities that are politically distinct from their surrounding areas. Take, for instance, Matzie’s 16th district in Beaver County, on the border with Ohio. The district went overwhelmingly for Trump, but it also includes a small portion of the county that lies close to Pittsburgh and includes the old industrial town of Aliquippa. It’s not a Democratic stronghold, per se, but it’s more Democratic than the rest of the county and elected a Democratic mayor, Dwan Walker.

Similarly, the 72nd district is in Cambria County, which went to Trump by 36 points, but the district itself includes Johnstown, which is the largest city in the county. Johnstown’s population of about 18,000 represents about a third of the district, and residents lean slightly more Democratic. Like Aliquippa, it also has a Democratic mayor.

A 203-member Pennsylvania House of Representatives is expensive, especially since each legislator has a reasonably generous budget that includes money for staff and a district office. But these smaller districts can provide more fine-grained representation for Pennsylvanians, who, despite the red shift, are more likely to be registered Democrats than Republicans – though Democrats certainly feel like a minority for now.

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Pennsylvania

Sweet Summer: 59 creameries unite dairy lovers with Pennsylvania farms on Ice Cream Trail

Published

10 hours ago

June 6, 2026

Press Room

Sweet Summer: 59 creameries unite dairy lovers with Pennsylvania farms on Ice Cream Trail

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. (WFMZ) — 59 creameries across the Commonwealth are serving up a sweet summer connecting dairy lovers with Pennsylvania farms.

June 4 kicked off the Ninth Annual Scooped Ice Cream Trail.

Ice cream lovers can register online and fill out a digital passport as they visit participating creameries. Each visit earns points towards various prizes.

The owners of Batch Microcreamery in Center Valley tell 69 News they’re excited to be part of the trail for the third year in a row, attracting visitors locally and out-of-state.

“This is the third location of the ice cream trail that I’ve been on,” said Kamden Acevedo.

Acevedo is originally from Staten Island and said he’s motivated to try other locations on the trail throughout the state.

“I love ice cream. I’m going to try, I’m going to try my hardest honestly,” Acevedo stated.

Dana Reibman and her daughter are just happy for the sweet treat.

“We’re all up for ice cream all the time. We come here probably about once a month because we like trying the different flavors. As you can see, she really enjoys the cookie monster flavor,” Reibman explained.

The ice cream trail continues through Sept. 7.

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Pennsylvania

PA law would restrict cellphones in schools. Pittsburgh already bans them

Published

20 hours ago

June 5, 2026

Press Room

PA law would restrict cellphones in schools. Pittsburgh already bans them

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives passed a bill requiring schools to create policies restricting student cellphone use.
Pittsburgh Public Schools already has a policy banning student cellphone use during the school day, which was approved in late 2025.
Under Pittsburgh’s policy, students must turn in their phones to school personnel for the duration of the school day.

If Pennsylvania sees statewide restrictions on cellphones in schools, would anything change in Pittsburgh?

It’s too early to say for sure.

On June 1, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation that would require school districts to adopt phone restrictions, leaving the details of the exact policy’s implementation up to individual districts, according to USA TODAY. Now, if cleared by the Senate — which already passed another version of the proposal with almost unanimous support — it will go to Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has repeatedly said he supports getting cellphones out of classrooms with a bell-to-bell ban.

“Here in Pennsylvania, Democrats and Republicans agree: We need to let our kids be kids again,” Shapiro said in a June 4 post to his X account.

But Pittsburgh’s already ahead of the curve when it comes to banning cellphones during school hours because of a school board policy approved in late 2025.

Here’s what to know.

Are cell phones banned in Pittsburgh schools?

Yes, cellphones are banned during the school day at Pittsburgh Public Schools.

In December 2025, Pittsburgh Public Schools Board voted to ban the use of phones by students during the school day, Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.

Under the policy, the possession of phones by students is prohibited. While they may bring cellphones to school, the devices must be turned in to school personnel during the school day.

There are exceptions to the policy in cases where a student may need a phone for instructional activities, an Individualized Education Plan, a Section 504 Plan or for other reasons approved by a school administrator.

Why are schools banning cellphones?

Numerous states have already banned cellphones in schools, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and others, according to ABC News.

This year, Indiana and Kansas banned phones during the day, implementing policies that require students to keep their phones in inaccessible locations through the entire school day, USA TODAY reported.

Recently, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming passed or updated less restrictive legislation on phones in schools, according to an analysis by the Becca Schmill Foundation, the Institute for Families and Technology, Smartphone-Free Childhood US and Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation.

Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania may follow suit.

Do cellphone bans work?

Yes and no.

Cellphone bans keep kids off their devices, but they don’t appear to impact test scores, attendance, self-reported classroom attention or perceived online bullying, according to a study published in April by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Additionally, researchers found that during the first year of a cellphone ban, disciplinary incidents rose and students’ reported well-being fell, though the effects subsided as the years passed.

Still, there’s a push for bans nationally, with the U.S. surgeon general’s office warning on May 20 that “compulsive” screen use is linked to poor sleep, substance abuse, developmental disruptions and social, mental and behavioral issues. The office suggested that cellphone bans in schools are a way to help put excessive screen time in check.

Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s beloved 100-year-old amusement park still refuses to charge admission

Published

1 day ago

June 5, 2026

Press Room

Pennsylvania’s beloved 100-year-old amusement park still refuses to charge admission

In an era of pricey theme parks and gated admission, one Pennsylvania amusement park is still letting guests in for free.

Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, has been admission-free since it opened nearly a century ago.

Knoebels opened its doors on July 4, 1926 — and will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, as the nation celebrates America’s semiquincentennial.

Many of the earliest amusement parks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries operated without admission fees, especially so-called “trolley parks,” which made money from charging guests for rides, food and drink.

Park owner Brian Knoebel, 52, recently told PA Local he “had to pinky-swear” to never change the free-admission model.

“It’s who we are,” he said. “It’s that traditional park.”

Knoebel said he recognizes that grandparents “get more satisfaction out of watching their grandkids ride the rides than they do themselves.”

“And Grandma and Grandpa are on a limited income,” he said. “So they don’t pay to park. We don’t force you to buy food in the park — if you want to bring a picnic lunch, then bring a picnic lunch.”

Knoebel, who said his ancestors came to America from Germany and worked as lumberers, said the amusement park began as a modest venture.

“After church on Sunday, they’d come down and park their horse and buggy off to the side, and frolic in the stream and have a little picnic,” he told PA Local.

“My great-grandfather would feed and stable your horses for, I believe, a quarter.”

Knoebel added, “Little by little, he started building some picnic tables and park benches, and on July 4, 1926, we opened a swimming pool, a restaurant — appropriately named ‘The Restaurant’ — and we rented a steam-powered carousel.”

Despite the park’s growth, Knoebel said its old-fashioned atmosphere has remained intact, including the canopy of trees, shaded walkways, creekside seating and classic attractions.

“How has it changed? We started with one ride, and one food stand, and the pool,” he said.

“We now have 60 rides, I believe 38 food stands, 24 games, and water slides … Quarter-mile down the road, we own the 18-hole golf course, complete with a bar and tavern.”

Overall, Knoebel said that he and his family “absolutely know our brand.”

“We know our fans,” he said.

“And that throwback amusement park from yesteryear is exactly who we continue to be,” he added.

“We don’t have roller coasters that reach the clouds. We have rides for thrill seekers … but, of course, we have more traditional rides.”

Knoebels is the largest free-admission park in the United States. “Knoebels does not have a gate, and you only pay for what you want once you are at the park,” the venue says on its website.

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