Is a Democrat Trifecta Possible in 2026?
It’s been 31 years since PA Democrats had a trifecta – that’s control of the state house, senate and governorship – but signs are looking good for one in 2026. The substantial Democratic gains in Virginia and New Jersey this past November, not to mention PA Democrat’s overwhelming successes in judicial races and their wins in county and local seats across the state, have them fired up for 2026. Can they retain or increase their current one-person majority in the House, flip the Senate from red to blue and help get Governor Shapiro reelected? What I heard at Represent PA’s two recent breakfast briefings gave me hope that the answer is yes!
2025 Election Results
At the November 18 breakfast briefing about the 2025 election results, we heard from Devin Rankin, Atlantic Regional Director for Emily’s List, the organization that recruits, trains and supports Democratic pro-choice women candidates up and down the ballot throughout the country. Devin’s territory includes Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina. She focused first on the results in Virginia, a state known as “a bellwether for Pennsylvania.” Here are the highlights:
- Virginia Democrats, who previously held razor-thin margins in both chambers of the state’s General Assembly, won 64 of the 100 House of Delegates seats that were up for grabs.
- The House Democrats invested $34 million to flip seats, an amount that PA is unlikely to see.
- With the election of Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, the VA Democrats locked in a trifecta for at least the next two years.
- Democratic women led the charge and won!
- 10 of the 13 flipped VA House seats were women. The seats that were hardest to flip, i.e., with the most 2024 Trump voters, are similar politically to the seats that PA needs to flip.
- All 12 of the women candidates in Virginia supported by Emily’s List either won their races outright or advanced to a runoff.
In Pennsylvania, the 2025 election saw record voter turnout: Democrats came out in force. The highly contested vote to retain PA’s Supreme Court justices exceeded margins compared to votes for Kamala Harris in 2024 by double-digits. In Bucks County, Democrats swept all five county row offices, including sheriff and district attorney, and they took control of Bucks and Pennridge school boards. In Allegheny County, Democrats won 450 elections for local offices, compared to the GOP’s 11.
The specter of the PA Democrat’s “investment boogieman,” Jeffrey Yass, was brought up at the November briefing. Although he will undoubtedly throw a lot of money at GOP candidates in the 2026 election, Devin reminded everyone that Democrats have won in the past despite his deep pockets.
The 2026 PA Senate Race
At the December breakfast briefing, Jalen Nix, Executive Director of the PA Senate Democratic Campaign Committee (SDCC) stated emphatically that the 2026 election is an opportunity for a Democrat trifecta. He proclaimed “the wind is at our backs” as evidenced by the 2025 election, in which voting swings in favor of Democrats were at far greater numbers than we usually see for the minority party.
In the PA Senate, Democrats currently hold 23 seats to the GOP’s 27. The SDCC has targeted four Senate Districts for flipping and have identified strong candidates for three of those districts (the fourth will be officially announced in a few weeks). One of the candidates, running in Bucks County (SD-6), is Eileen Albillar, who joined the briefing to talk about her background and campaign plans.
Also at the briefing, PA Senators Maria Collett (SD-12), Katie Muth (SD-44) and Lindsey Williams (SD-38) spoke about the importance of flipping the Senate from red to blue. If we can win a majority in both chambers of the General Assembly, legislation to protect reproductive rights, increase the minimum wage and permanently fund transit will no longer die on the Senate floor. Through the SDCC, PA Senators are currently building a legislative agenda so that in the first year of majority, they can hit the ground running and pass these bills and others that have been ignored by Senate Republicans.
The Importance of “Early” Money
If there’s one thing that I’ve taken from these briefings it is that we need to keep the Democratic momentum going. And there’s no better way to do that than by supporting progressive women candidates and incumbents who have shown they can outperform men in elections. As Senator Lindsey Williams aptly stated: “We outperform men because we outwork them!”
The 2026 campaigns for incumbents and new candidates have begun. Represent PA has learned from women legislators and candidates that money donated early in their campaigns is crucial. It sends the message that they are viable candidates with strong support, and it helps unlock more money from other sources. To that end, Represent PA has announced its first round of investments for the 2026 cycle, committing $66,000 to 19 incumbent House representatives, three incumbent Senators and two previously endorsed challengers who are running for PA House seats in highly competitive districts.
Since its inception in 2014, Represent PA has given over $2 million to 144 pro-choice women candidates, helping to increase the number of women in the PA General Assembly from 18% to 32%. We can do even better in 2026 – the wind is at our backs! You can help by donating now.