Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of 2 giving a primer on voting for state candidates. Part 2 will appear later in the week.

Stephen Caruso

of Spotlight PA

This year, every member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives and half of the state Senate will be on the ballot.

These races receive less media attention than top-of-the-ballot ones, such as for the U.S. House or governor. That’s why Spotlight PA has compiled this guide to help you evaluate which candidates you want to send to or keep in the state Legislature.

State House and Senate seats come with a base salary of six digits, perks such as per diems, and the ability to hire full-time staff. In return, legislators are expected to act as a front door to state government. They also work with their elected colleagues to shepherd bills into law, watchdog state agencies’ performance, and be a voice for their constituents’ interests and values.

Use this tool to find out who your legislators are.

Reminder: All state representatives will stand for election this year, while only state senators in even-numbered districts will be on the ballot.

Where to start

The best way to start your research is through the search engine of your choice.

A candidate’s official campaign website or Facebook page often includes a biography, information about their priorities and noteworthy endorsements from politicians and organizations. Those pages may also include announcements of their own public events, which let you meet a candidate face to face.

Also, look for organizations that may publish nonpartisan candidate questionnaires. Those include the League of Women Voters Education Fund and Ballotpedia, an online database of election information.

Local chapters of the League — as well as news outlets, business groups and local political committees — may also host candidate forums or debates. Those events allow you to see candidates interact in real time and may allow you to meet them in person.

How to vet incumbents’ records

Each state House and state Senate lawmaker has a web page that lists every bill proposal memo they’ve circulated (under “co-sponsorship memoranda”) and bill they’ve signed on to this session (under “sponsored legislation”).

Alex Garlick, a University of Vermont professor who studies American legislatures, previously told Spotlight PA you can understand a lawmaker’s priorities by looking at the legislation they back.

There are a few other ways to evaluate lawmakers, though all have pros and cons, Garlick said.

For instance, you could count how many bills introduced by a lawmaker became law. But that method alone isn’t sufficient, Garlick said, “because a lot of bills fail along the way.”

Bills that move through the Pennsylvania Legislature are often rewritten, meaning what becomes law may be completely unrelated to what was introduced. Also, sometimes a lawmaker’s bill gets absorbed into a larger measure.

Most rank-and-file lawmakers — especially those in the minority party — don’t have the power to ensure their bills are considered. That ability belongs to committee chairs and members of the majority leadership team, who make these decisions based on their own priorities.

Still, some academics try to quantify legislative ability. Take the Center for Effective Lawmaking, which published a report card for the Pennsylvania Legislature last year, measuring how effective a legislator is at moving their “sponsored bills through the legislative process.”

However, even the academics who create those stats say they are an incomplete assessment of how legislators can use their role.

“For people to take (a grade) out of context and say, ‘OK, someone’s a totally ineffective lawmaker because they score low,’ … I would not feel comfortable endorsing that,” Alan Wiseman of Vanderbilt University, co-director of the center, told Spotlight PA last year. “Because frankly … elected officials have many aspects to their jobs, all of which can be deemed quite important to them and their constituents. And in some cases, that involves lawmaking the way we define it.”

How a lawmaker votes on bills can also be informative. Do they buck party lines? Do they abstain from politically tricky measures? Do they prioritize unity?

State House

Major initiatives considered by the state House over the past year include:

• The 2025 state budget deal and an accompanying bill ending the state’s participation in a regional program to cap carbon emissions from power plants.

• A bill to increase the amount of state sales tax revenue that funds public transit agencies.

• A proposed constitutional amendment to ensure Pennsylvanians’ right to abortion.

• Bills that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour or create a wage tier based on county population.

• Bills that would implement universal background checks for gun purchases, allow courts to issue extreme risk protection orders, ban untraceable gun parts, and ban Glock switches.

• A bill to repeal a state law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

• A bill to create a state paid family and sick leave program.

• A bill to enact stricter rules for data centers.

• A law allowing hunting on Sundays.

• A law codifying anti-discrimination protections for individuals based on hairstyles associated with a person’s race, such as locs or braids.

• A law reducing the number of vapes available for sale in the commonwealth.

State Senate

Major initiatives considered by the state Senate over the past year include:

• The 2025 state budget deal and an accompanying bill ending the state’s participation in a regional program to cap carbon emissions from power plants.

• A bill to fund state public transit agencies using transferred capital funds and gaming revenue.

• A bill to ban trans girls from playing women’s K-12 and collegiate school sports.

• A bill to require additional legislative review of regulations with an economic cost of over $1 million.

• A bill to ban safe injection sites in Philadelphia.

• A bill to require that state prosecutors inform federal immigration authorities if they apprehend an undocumented immigrant.

• A bill to create a legal process for citizens to force their local governments to clear encampments.

• A bill to preempt local governments from banning gas utility connections.

• A law allowing hunting on Sundays.

• A law codifying anti-discrimination protections for individuals based on hairstyles associated with a person’s race, such as locs or braids.

• A law reducing the number of vapes available for sale in the commonwealth.

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.