Our President-by-LD project ventures back to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a look at Democrat Tom Wolf's 2014 55-45 victory over Gov. Tom Corbett. We have the results calculated by district for state House, state Senate and congressional district. We also have the results calculated for the 2012 presidential, Senate, and other statewide elections. You can find our master list of states here. Also be sure to check out Stephen Wolf's interactive state legislative maps.
Tom Wolf's decisive win over the horribly unpopular Corbett was a bright spot for Team Blue on a terrible night, but Democrats who hoped that Corbett's toxicity would allow them to retake the state Senate were disappointed. While Wolf carried 28 of the state's 50 state Senate districts, the GOP made gains in the chamber and they currently hold a 31-19 edge there.
Wolf won six districts that Romney had carried in 2012. The one state Senate seat to go from Obama to Corbett was SD-15, located around Harrisburg and represented by Democrat Rob Teplitz. Obama only carried it by 25 votes, and Corbett took it 52-48. Wolf also won 112 of the 203 state House seats, but Team Red maintains a 119 to 84 majority; two years before, Obama won only 89 districts.
The good news for Keystone State Democrats is that they won't need to fight on a GOP-drawn legislative map for too much longer.
Democrats retook control of the state Supreme Court this November and they're favored to keep it at least until after the 2022 round of redistricting. In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court selects the tie-breaking vote for the commission that draws up the maps for the state House and Senate and for the first time in decades, the GOP won't be able to ram their map through. The GOP-crafted state House and state Senate maps will be in place until the 2022 elections, but Democrats will have a good shot to flip both chambers that year.
The bad news is that the state legislature will still drawn the congressional map, though if Wolf is still governor in 2022 he can veto a GOP gerrymander. But the Republicans are favored to keep at least a majority of the state's 18 congressional districts for a while: While Corbett lost by 10 points, he took 10 seats. Wolf won the five congressional districts that Obama carried (those five seats are also the only ones that have a Democratic congressman) and narrowly took PA-06, PA-07, and PA-08 in the Philadelphia suburbs.
The 8th District, which Wolf carried 52-48 and Romney won by less than 300 votes, is being vacated by Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, and both parties are planning to compete here. Wolf carried the 7th District 52-48, while Romney won it 50-49. The DCCC recruited pastor Bill Golderer to face Republican Rep. Pat Meehan, though we'll need to wait and see how serious of a candidate Golderer is. Wolf also took the 6th 51-49, while Romney won it 51-48. However, Democratic candidate Mike Parrish has raised very little money, and Team Blue will likely need to find someone else if they want to beat freshman Ryan Costello.