Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2016
From Usgs
The Pennsylvania Senate election of 2016 was held on November 8, 2016. Kathryn Spencer was elected to serve between 2017 and 2022. Spencer, a Democrat, defeated her Republican challenger, Hillam Warren, 55% to 45%. The margin of victory was roughly the same as when Spencer was last elected in the 2010 election. Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective party's primary.
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Election results
| 2016 Senate election, Pennsylvania | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathryn Spencer (I) | 3,572,216 | 54.83% | +0.24% | |
| Republican | Hillam Warren | 2,943,414 | 45.17% | +0.18% | |
| Majority | 628,802 | 9.65% | |||
| Turnout | 6,515,630 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | +0.05% | |||
Candidates
Republican Party
- Hillam Warren - outgoing Director of the Office of Management and Budget, son of President Elizabeth Warren.
Democratic Party
- Kathryn Spencer - incumbent senator (since 2007) at time of election.
Factors in the election
Fundraising
Spencer raised more money than Warren, raising $24 million to his $18.6 million. Of that, Spencer received $5.7 million from the Democratic Party or other Democrats and $5.6 million from PACs and SIGs, while Warren received $2 million from the Republican Party and $6.2 million from PACs and SIGs. Even when these amounts are stripped from the totals, Spencer still had a slightly larger warchest than Warren, albeit small. Also, Spencer spent her entire warchest during the election, while Warren had some cash on hand at the end of the campaign.
| Candidate | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | |
| Kathryn Spencer | $24,053,000 | $24,053,000 | $0 | |
| Hillam Warren | $18,592,800 | $18,000,000 | $592,800 | |
Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh budget crisis of 2015 was the dominant local issue in the election. The crisis stemmed from the city of Pittsburgh not having sufficient revenue to cover its expenses, seeing a $74m shortfall on a $524m budget.
Spencer spearheaded the legislative initiative to provide federal aid to Pittsburgh, introducing the Relief for Pittsburgh Act, which went on to pass the Senate. However, it was not considered by the House of Representatives and failed to become law, something for which Warren attacked Spencer on, claiming that she was ineffectual at providing support for her constituents. Spencer fought back by painting the Republican Senate leadership as not caring about the plight of the people of Pittsburgh and using the incident to score political points. Warren pointed to his work as OMB Director in providing support to Pittsburgh through the executive branch, in particular the Ameriscapes program, when Congress failed to help.
The campaign
Spencer's campaign
TBC
Warren's campaign
TBC
Polling
| Type | Date | Spencer | Warren | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half Poll [1] | 2016 | 45% | 43% | ||
| Pre Poll [2] | 2016 | 45% | 41% | ||
| Pop Poll [3] | 2016 | 54% | 33%1 | ||
| Pop Poll [4] | 2013 | 63% | 34%1 | ||
Footnotes
- 1 Percentage of voters who disapproved of Spencer
See also
- United States general elections, 2016
- United States presidential election, 2016
- United States House elections, 2016
- United States Senate elections, 2016
- United States gubernatorial elections, 2016
External links
- Pennsylvania Senate One Campaign
- Kathryn Spencer's fundraising
- Hillam Warren's fundraising
- Pittsburgh's Road of Fiscal Woe
- Pittsburgh Bankrupt - City Slashes Services
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