IMPORTANT INFO:
- 87% OF CONGRESS WILL BE ELECTED THIS NOVEMBER
- YOU MUST REGISTER TO VOTE
- THE PRIMARY IS MAY 19TH
- ALL 18 YEAR OLDS (and older) CAN VOTE
You mustn’t be fooled by the name, because midterm elections are ANYTHING BUT mid. This November, 87% of congress will be elected, and that’s just the federal government. In western Pennsylvania, these elections hit even closer to home. Local and State governments are often given a kind of “weenie” reputation. However, believe it or not (believe it, actually), they do a lot more than burn your parking ticket money on giant rubber duck installations.
They write the laws that shape your daily life.
State legislators decide how much funding schools receive. They determine whether your vote is easy or difficult to cast. They pass budgets that affect public transportation, healthcare access, environmental protections, and criminal justice policy. At the local level, county co=uncils and city officials decide zoning laws, property taxes, policing budgets, housing policy, and infrastructure investment. They decide whether your neighborhood gets sidewalks repaired, whether affordable housing is built, whether mental health services are funded, and how your community responds to crises. And unlike presidential elections, these races are often decided by razor-thin margins. Hundreds of votes. Sometimes fewer.
In other words: that “weenie” government? It’s the one you feel the most.
All 17 Pennsylvania seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are on the ballot, including key districts right here in western PA. At the state level, every single seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is up for election, along with half of the State Senate. That means the balance of power in Harrisburg is on the line.
And it doesn’t stop there.
County council members, mayors, school board directors, judges, and other local officials will also be elected. These are the people who decide how your tax dollars are spent, how public schools are funded, what gets built in your community, and how local laws are enforced. Local elections often come down to just a few hundred votes— sometimes even fewer.
Midterms shape the direction of the country, but they also shape your daily life. Who fills potholes. Who sets property taxes. Who funds public transit. Who determines zoning laws. Who oversees policing policy. Who sits on the bench when constitutional questions arise.
In a state like Pennsylvania, a battleground state where margins are extremely thin, turnout matters. Western Pennsylvania has the power to tip races, shift legislative control, and set the tone for the next two years of policymaking.
This isn’t just a “midterm.” It’s a moment of decision.
Research. Register. Show up for the primary on May 19th. And vote in November.
Below are readings on why local elections matter, and also seats in PA that are up for grabs!!
https://www.lwv.org/blog/why-local-elections-are-critical-democracy
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/vote/elections/upcoming-elections
