Pennsylvania Republican Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Greg Rothman |
| Senate President pro tempore | Kim Ward |
| House Leader | Jesse Topper |
| Founder | David Wilmot |
| Founded | November 27, 1854; 170 years ago (1854-11-27) Towanda, Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters | 112 State StreetHarrisburg,PA 17101 |
| Membership(2025) |  3,623,613[1] |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red |
| U.S. Senate seats | 1 / 2 |
| U.S. House seats | 10 / 17 |
| Statewide executive offices | 3 / 5 |
| Seats in theState Senate | 27 / 50 |
| Seats in theState House | 101 / 203 |
| Seats on theState Supreme Court | 2 / 7 |
| Election symbol | |
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| Website | |
| pagop | |
ThePennsylvania Republican Party (PAGOP) is the affiliate of theRepublican Party in the state ofPennsylvania, headquartered inHarrisburg. Its chairman is state senatorGreg Rothman.
Along with thePennsylvania Democratic Party, it is one of the two major political parties in the state. It currently controls one of Pennsylvania'sU.S. Senate seats, 10 of the state's 17U.S. House seats, three of the fivestatewide offices, and holds a majority in theState Senate.
The party was founded on November 27, 1854, inTowanda, Pennsylvania, by former CongressmanDavid Wilmot. Wilmot invited political leaders and a small group of friends to the organization's first meeting, which took place in his home. Notable attendees included U.S. SenatorSimon Cameron, CongressmanThaddeus Stevens, ColonelAlexander McClure, and future governorAndrew Curtin. Wilmot convinced the group to form local Republican clubs in their home counties. On September 5, 1855, at the inaugural state convention held inPittsburgh, Wilmot became the first party chairman.[2]
Following the1856 election, Pennsylvania Republicans reorganized as the People's Party. The change in name helped to welcome formerKnow Nothings who had supportedMillard Fillmore over the Republican presidential candidate,John C. Frémont. The People's Party sent delegates to the1860 Republican National Convention, where they voted for Simon Cameron on the first ballot. During theCivil War, leaders in the People's Party joinedWar Democrats to organize theUnion Party. After 1868, the party was known as the National Union Republican, or simply Republican.[3]
In 1959, chairmanGeorge I. Bloom made the Republican Party a statewide organization. He had the headquarters located in Harrisburg, where it remains to this day.[2]
Pennsylvania was politically dominated by theDemocratic Party until around 1856. This is at least partially attributed to the desire of many in the state to promote its growing industries by raising taxes. From the period immediately preceding the Civil War until the mid-1930s, political dominance in the state largely rested with the Republican Party. The party was led by a series of bosses, includingSimon Cameron,J. Donald Cameron,Matthew Quay, andBoies Penrose.[4] Quay in particular was one of the dominant political figures of his era, as he served as chairman of theRepublican National Committee and helped placeTheodore Roosevelt on the1900 Republican ticket.[5] Republican dominance was ended by the growing influence of labor and urbanization, and the implementation of theNew Deal.[6] However, even after the New Deal, Republicans remained competitive in the state.
During the period from the Civil War until the start of theGreat Depression, Republican gubernatorial administrations outnumbered Democratic administrations by a margin of sixteen to two. The first Republican governor was elected in1860, and there was a Republican governor until1882. The governorship alternated between Republican and Democratic every term until1894. From 1894 until 1934, Republicans held an unbroken grip on the governor's office. DemocratGeorge Howard Earle III held the governorship for one term, from 1935 to 1939, after which Republicans held the governorship until the1954 election of state senatorGeorge M. Leader. Democrats continued to hold the governorship into 1963, following the1958 election ofPittsburgh mayorDavid L. Lawrence, who succeeded Leader. RepublicansBill Scranton andRay Shafer followed Lawrence. In 1968, state law was changed to allow governors to run for a second consecutive four-year term. However, in the1970 election, DemocratMilton Shapp defeated Shafer'slieutenant governor,Ray Broderick. Shapp was reelected over Republican nomineeDrew Lewis in1974.[7]
Republicans held both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats from 1968 to 1991. In 1991, after the death of senatorJohn Heinz, aspecial election was held. In the election, formerKennedy administration official and DemocratHarris Wofford defeated former Republican governorDick Thornburgh, who resigned asU.S. attorney general to run in the election. The Republican defeat was considered to be a major upset. Wofford went on to be defeated in his bid for a full six-year term in1994 by Republican CongressmanRick Santorum. Republicans would hold both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats until Santorum was defeated in his bid for a third term in2006.[6]
Following the 1994 federal and state elections, Republicans flipped the governorship with the election of CongressmanTom Ridge, retook the majorities in both houses of theGeneral Assembly, and gained a majority of the state's congressional seats. Ridge won reelection to a second term in1998, defeating his Democratic opponent by 26 percentage points. In 2001, Ridge resigned as governor to take the role ofhomeland security advisor to presidentGeorge W. Bush. He was succeeded by lieutenant governorMark Schweiker, who decided not to run for reelection. In2002, Republicans lost the governorship to DemocratEd Rendell.
Two statewide elections took place in 2006. In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic state treasurerBob Casey Jr. won, defeating incumbent Republican Rick Santorum. Santorum's margin of defeat was 18 percentage points—the largest for an incumbent Republican senator in state history. In thegubernatorial election, incumbent Democratic governor Ed Rendell won a comfortable reelection over Republican challengerLynn Swann. Democrats also retook the majority in the State Housethis year, though the balance of power in the State Senateremained the same.[7]
In2010, Republican nomineePat Toomey defeated DemocratJoe Sestak in the U.S. Senate election. Sestak had defeated incumbent senatorArlen Specter in theDemocratic primary after Specter, who had been a Republican since his election to the Senate in1980, switched his party affiliation to Democratic in 2009. Specter's partisan defection had briefly given Democrats control over both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats for the first time since before the Civil War. In thegubernatorial election, Republican state attorney generalTom Corbett defeated DemocratDan Onorato. Republicans also retook the majority in the State House, which was captured by Democrats in 2006.[8] Corbett ran for reelection to a second term in2014, but was defeated by DemocratTom Wolf. This marked the first time an incumbent Republican governor running for reelection in Pennsylvania lost.[9] Corbett is the last Republican to hold the office of governor.
In2016, incumbent Republican senator Pat Toomey won reelection to a second term, defeating Democratic challengerKatie McGinty. After Toomey announced in 2020 that he would retire and not seek a third term, Republicans lost the seat to DemocratJohn Fetterman, who defeated Republican nomineeMehmet Oz in the2022 general election. Also in 2022, Democrats flipped the State House, while Republicans maintained the majority in the State Senate, which the party has held since 1994.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party controls three of the five statewide offices and holds a majority in thePennsylvania Senate. Republicans hold one of the state'sU.S. Senate seats, 10 of the state's 17U.S. House seats, and a minority in thePennsylvania House of Representatives.
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| District | Member | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brian Fitzpatrick | .jpg) |
| 7th | Ryan Mackenzie | .jpg) |
| 8th | Rob Bresnahan | .jpg) |
| 9th | Dan Meuser | .jpg) |
| 10th | Scott Perry | .jpg) |
| 11th | Lloyd Smucker | .jpg) |
| 13th | John Joyce | .jpg) |
| 14th | Guy Reschenthaler |  |
| 15th | Glenn Thompson | .jpg) |
| 16th | Mike Kelly | .jpg) |
| Chairman | Term |
|---|---|
| David Wilmot | 1855 |
| Alexander McClure | 1860–1863 |
| Wayne MacVeagh | 1863–1864 |
| Simon Cameron | 1864–1865 |
| John Cessna | 1865–1866 |
| Francis Jordan | 1866–1868 |
| Galusha A. Grow | 1868–1869[10] |
| John Covode | 1869–1871 |
| Russell Errett | 1871–1875 |
| Henry M. Hoyt | 1875–1876 |
| J. Donald Cameron | 1876–1877 |
| William P. Wilson | 1877–1878 |
| Matthew Quay | 1878–1879 |
| Francis C. Hooton | 1879–1880 |
| John Cessna | 1880–1881 |
| Thomas Valentine Cooper | 1881–1888 |
| William Henry Andrews | 1888–1891 |
| Louis Arthur Watres | 1891–1892 |
| Frank Reeder | 1892–1893 |
| B. F. Gilkeson | 1893–1895 |
| Matthew Quay | 1895–1896 |
| John P. Elkin | 1896–1899 |
| Frank Reeder | 1899–1902 |
| Matthew Quay | 1902–1903[11] |
| Boies Penrose | 1903–1905 |
| Wesley R. Andrews | 1905–1910[12] |
| Henry F. Walton | 1910–1912 |
| Henry G. Wasson | 1912–1913 |
| William E. Crow | 1913–1922 |
| W. Harry Baker | 1922–1926 |
| William Larimer Mellon Sr. | 1926–1928 |
| Edward Martin | 1928–1934 |
| M. Harvey Taylor | 1934–1937 |
| G. Edward Green | 1937–1938 |
| James F. Torrance | 1938–1942 |
| M. Harvey Taylor | 1942–1954 |
| Miles Horst | 1954–1956 |
| George I. Bloom | 1956–1963 |
| Craig Truax | 1963–1967 |
| John C. Jordan | 1967–1970 |
| Clifford L. Jones | 1970–1974 |
| Richard Frame | 1974–1977 |
| Richard Filling | 1977–1978 |
| Bud Haabestad | 1978–1980 |
| Martha Bell Schoeninger | 1980–1983 |
| Bob Asher | 1983–1986 |
| Earl Baker | 1986–1990 |
| Anne Anstine | 1990–1996 |
| Alan Novak | 1996–2004 |
| Eileen Melvin | 2004–2006 |
| Rob Gleason | 2006–2017 |
| Val DiGiorgio | 2017–2019 |
| Lawrence Tabas | 2019–2025 |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
