2026 midterm election candidates explained

Midterm elections will be held on Nov. 3. On Election Day, polling places will be open to voters from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Lehigh students will have the day off from classes.

Find polling locations here. 

The Brown and White compiled descriptions of the positions and leading candidates listed on the 2026 midterm election ballot. The following candidates are listed in each category in no particular order:

U.S. House of Representatives – Pennsylvania 7th Congressional District

The U.S. House of Representatives’s role is to be accessible and responsive to constituents by introducing and passing laws that the president can either sign or veto. House members have the power to conduct hearings and investigations on what they believe is important. Members are elected for two-year terms with no term limits. 

Bob Brooks (Democratic Party)

Bob Brooks served as a firefighter for the city of Bethlehem for 20 years. Brooks is the union President of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. With this experience, he built his campaign around advocating for higher wages, better healthcare and employee benefits. In his campaign, Brooks said he’s running to end the affordability crisis, build a fair and sustainable healthcare system, expose government corruption and more. 

Brooks said he has always been fighting for working families, working as a bartender, landscaper, baseball coach and as an advocate for first responders. Read more about Brooks’ campaign here. 

Ryan Mackenzie (Republican Party)

Before incumbent Ryan Mackenzie was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024, he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2012 to 2024. His campaign’s priorities are improving housing affordability, increasing community safety, safeguarding social security benefits, Medicare and healthcare. 

Mackenzie said his plan is to find common-sense solutions to core community issues. Mackenzie serves on three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives, including Education and Workforce, Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security. Read more about Mackenzie’s campaign here. 

Pennsylvania Governor and Lieutenant Governor

The Pennsylvania governor serves as the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth, serving a four-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms. Responsibilities include controlling all state departments, agencies in their cabinet and overseeing Pennsylvania’s budget. 

The Pennsylvania lieutenant governor, the second-highest officer in Pennsylvania’s executive branch, serves as the president of the state senate, the chair of the Board of Pardons and chair of emergency and local councils. The lieutenant governor role follows the same term limits as the governor.

Stacy Garrity/Jason Richey (Republican Party)

Stacy Garrity, retired Army reserve colonel and the 79th treasurer of Pennsylvania, and attorney Jason Richey are running on the Republican ticket for governor and lieutenant governor. Prior to being elected treasurer in 2021, Garrity served in the U. S. Army Reserve for 30 years from 1986 to 2016 and was deployed three different times during her service. Garrity also worked for Global Tungsten & Powders Corp.for more than 30 years. 

The Garrity/Richey campaign has been focusing on their  data center policy plans as election day approaches. If elected, they said they will regulate AI data centers, but make Pennsylvania a commonwealth of AI innovation. Garrity and Richey say their goal is to “turn the state around” by fixing problems created by the current administration in Harrisburg. Other key issues for their campaign include affordability, expansion of Pennsylvania’s energy generation capacity and reducing property taxes for homeowners. Read more about Garrity and Richey’s campaign here. 

Kenneth Krawchuk/John Thomas (Libertarian Party) 

Libertarian candidates Ken Krawchuk and John Thomas are running to serve as governor and lieutenant governor for Pennsylvania. A professional computer programmer since 1970, Krawchuk has run as the Libertarian candidate in two prior gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania. Former senatorial candidate in the 2024 election, Thomas’ professional life has centered around education in public, private and charter schools, and for the last five years, he served as constable for his neighborhood in Kittanning, Pennsylvania.

If elected, Krawchuk said he promises to slash the state’s budget and veto any tax increases that might cross his desk in Harrisburg. Krawchuk is also campaigning on privatizing education in the commonwealth, repealing gun safety laws and repealing protections for abortion. Read more about Krawchuk and Thomas’ campaign here. 

Josh Shapiro/Austin Davis (Democratic Party)

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis are seeking re-election on the Democratic ticket for governor and lieutenant governor. Shapiro is the 48th person to serve as governor for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has held the position since 2023. In 2017, Shapiro was elected as attorney general for Pennsylvania, a role he served in until being elected in the 2022 gubernatorial race. From 2005 to 2012, Shapiro also served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving the 153rd District. Prior to his role, Davis, a lifelong Pennsylvanian, also served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and leader of the Allegheny County House Democratic Delegation. 

While in office, Shapiro and Davis have focused on securing funding for public schools, job creation and investment in the commonwealth’s economy, gun violence prevention, community violence intervention and, most recently, data center regulation. Read more about Shapiro and Davis’ campaign here. 

Pennsylvania State Senate – District 18

The Pennsylvania Legislature or General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. The state senate consists of 50 elected members. State senators serve and represent the constituents of their district and generally serve on two to three committees during their term. Senators’ terms last two years. 

Lisa Boscola (Democratic Party)

Incumbent Lisa Boscola has served as the state senator for Pennsylvania’s 18th Senate District since 1999. Prior to her role in the state senate, she served as the representative for the 135th District for two terms and worked for Northampton County as deputy court administrator. 

Senator Boscola is the chair of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee, the Game and Fisheries Committee, and from 2011 to 2020, she served as the chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. She is also a general member of the Banking & Insurance, Communications and Technology, and Law and Justice committees. Boscola’s major legislative priorities center around property tax reform and redistricting reform. Read more about Boscola’s campaign here. 

Scott Janney (Republican Party)

Scott Janney, a Presbyterian minister who serves as vice chairman of the Wesleyan Holiness Connection, is running to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th Senate District in the general assembly. In 2022, Janney served as a committeeman on  the Northampton County Republican Committee, after being elected as a write-in candidate. 

Janney’s policy priorities include strengthening election integrity by using voter identification and standardizing election processes, enforcing fair immigration policies, protecting the second amendment, enforcing responsible gun ownership laws and investing in the commonwealth’s energy production. Read more about Janney’s campaign here. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives – District 135

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives makes state laws, approves the annual state budget, voices local community concerns, oversees the spending of state executive agencies and helps residents access state programs and benefits. Members are elected to two-year terms in even-numbered years with no term limits. 

Joseph “Joe” Poplawski (Republican Party)

Joe Poplawski has over 20 years of civil engineering and building inspector experience. Poplawski plans to address homelessness, advocate for affordable housing, make community infrastructure improvements and strengthen economic development. Poplawski said he’ll use his background to make educated decisions about community issues like roads, zoning and development. Read more about Poplawski’s campaign here. 

Steve Samuelson (Democratic Party)

Incumbent and Lehigh University alumnus Steve Samuelson, ‘86, has served on the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1998. Samuelson has been working to increase public school funding, provide senior citizens with property tax relief, raise the state’s minimum wage, end partisan gerrymandering in the state, support affordable housing development and more. Samuelson is the Democratic Majority Chair of the House Finance Committee. Read more about Samuelson’s campaign here.