Pennsylvania again played a major role in presidential politics in 2024, but voters locally and statewide produced other upheaval, too.
Republican former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler and went on to win the state and the White House for a second time. But state voters also at least interrupted — if not ended — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s long political career.

Locally, an insurgent hard-right challenger ended a Republican state representative’s one-term tenure by a handful of votes in a months-long saga.
Besides that, Luzerne County flipped to majority Republican for the first time in decades, voters turned out an Democratic incumbent congressman who engineered a potential passenger train revival and a beloved former Scranton mayor suddenly died.
Trump rips Harris as too radical, ridicules her looks and laugh at Luzerne County rally
A month after the attempted assassination, which was followed by a Lackawanna County employee’s suspension for a social media post, Trump visited the Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp., Luzerne County.
It was among dozens of visits to the state by Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, including two stops each in the northeast.
Their contest produced plenty of local excitement among supporters who flocked to their local visits.
Trump followed his arena stop with another in Scranton in Lackawanna County in October.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, filled a Wilkes University gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre in September and hosted a more muted stop for invited guests in Scranton the day before the election. President Joe Biden also popped in, rallying union members two days earlier in Scranton.
In the end, the ex-president dispatched the vice president in the Keystone State by a comfortable 120,000 votes – 1.71 percentage points — in a race that felt even tighter.
Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state twice since Ronald Reagan (1980, 1984).
Casey concedes defeat to McCormick in Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race: 'That’s democracy'
Before this year, the only election Casey lost was to another Democrat — the 2002 primary election for governor against Ed Rendell.
That produced a political pivot which led to his Senate bid in 2006 and two re-elections. By the time he won that first Senate election against incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, Casey had already served eight years as state auditor general and almost two as state treasurer.
By the time he leaves the Senate on Jan. 3, he will have served Pennsylvanians for 28 years.
After a rancorous election — one that cost $366 million, according to Open Secrets — and a combative post-election vote count, Casey lost to Republican Dave McCormick by 15,115 votes, one eighth of Trump’s state-winning margin.
When it was finally over and Casey conceded more than two weeks later, both candidates spoke with far more grace than many of the commercials aired during their tough campaign.
“Every day I have served in public office, I’ve fought for Pennsylvania workers, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and our veterans,” Casey said. “Thank you for the trust you have placed in me for all these years. It has been the honor of my lifetime.”
In his own statement, McCormick said he was honored to take over.
"Sen. Bob Casey dedicated his career to bettering our commonwealth. Dina and I want to extend our sincere gratitude to Senator Casey, Terese, and their family for their decades of service, hard work, and personal sacrifice.”
Election shocker: Walsh upsets Cabell in state 117th House District race
In the olden days, just the idea of an intra-party scuffle for a state representative seat represented political blasphemy.
Not anymore.
Cabell had reliably voted the House Republican line, but Walsh portrayed him as a closet Democrat who tried to buy him out of the race.
Cabell denied it all, but lost after months of legal battles over provisional, write-in and mail-in ballots, including one fight that reached the state Supreme Court.
When it was over, Walsh won – by four votes.
Luzerne County flips to red as GOP takes voter registration lead
Walsh’s victory somewhat reflected Luzerne County’s political transformation.
With Trump’s rise in 2016, voter registration in the long-Democratic Party dominated began to shift.
In late September, the county that became the subject of numerous books and stories on forgotten white, working-class voters, created news that seemed inevitable by then.
For the first time in a presidential election year since 1968, Republicans took the lead in voter registration.
County Republican Party chairman Gene Ziemba praised “grassroots work” done by volunteers “literally, one neighbor at a time.”
"I have a feeling that those numbers will go back and forth for a little while, periodically," county Democratic chairman Thom Shubilla said.
So far, Republicans have only widened their lead.
Cartwright concedes defeat to Bresnahan, says he is proud of his campaign and service
When he first ran for office, attorney Matt Cartwright said he represented the “Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.”
This year, in an 8th Congressional District drifting rightward in registration and attitude, the six-term congressman regularly boasted of his ability to work with Republicans to get things done.
That message didn't work on the campaign trail.
The Republican wave that produced Trump’s and McCormick’s victories also boosted Republican businessman Rob Bresnahan’s defeat of Cartwright.
Just to the south, three-term Democratic Rep. Susan Wild lost the 7th Congressional District seat to Republican state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
With the losses and with Trump nominating three House members to cabinet posts, an irony emerged.
The House Republican majority will drop to 217-215 if the nominees are confirmed.
If Cartwright and Wild won, Democrats might have at least temporarily retained control of the House.
Former Scranton Mayor Jim Connors dies suddenly at age 77
Connors, a Democrat at heart, switched parties in 1989 to run for mayor. He won three terms as mayor by staunchly refusing to raise taxes and lost a congressional bid as a Republican. He shocked everyone by announcing a switch back to the Democrats during Vice President Al Gore’s Scranton campaign visit in 2000.
Councilman Chris Doherty defeated Connors in the 2001 Democratic mayor primary election, and Connors went on to work as Rendell’s regional director. The former mayor grew beloved in retirement even with Doherty, who criticized him as a councilman, but named a park after him as mayor.
“Jimmy was never bothered by criticism or insults,” Doherty said after Connors died. “He always just moved forward. And he always put his best foot forward. He was always upbeat, and friendly. And I think he represented the best of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
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