Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is a very large, diverse, and critical battleground state, with important races in 2025 and 2026, which will also lay the groundwork for the 2028 presidential election.
For these reasons, Flip the Vote is supporting two groups in our 2025 portfolio. Together, these organizations have reach across the state and also considerable depth in key locations; they have direct outreach to Black, Latinx, and working class voters from all demographics, who will be key to electoral victories in this highly-competitive state.
Make the Road Action Pennsylvania (MRA PA) builds power in Latinx, Black, immigrant, and working-class communities of color in Reading, Philadelphia, Allentown, and Hazleton. MRA PA is member-led and driven, strengthening the movement for justice through electoral and grassroots organizing to advance progressive political and policy change. Deeply committed to addressing the concerns of their communities, MRA PA pursues large-scale voter contact and education, focusing on local priorities in order to sustain a long-term movement.
One Pennsylvania (OnePA) is a multiracial, intergenerational, and multi-issue statewide membership organization, with a focus on Black working families. Its members are workers, students, parents, seniors, people with disabilities, and retirees, who learn, collaborate, and build power together. One PA tackles the fundamental problems of economic justice and political participation, building power through face-to-face conversations and a wide variety of outreach programs to win elections and ensure accountability of their elected leaders.
Recent Achievements
In 2024, Pennsylvania was ground zero for the presidential race, with immense amounts of money, media efforts, and campaigning throughout the state. Flip the Vote partners were able to cut through the noise by engaging in deep, honest conversations with members in their communities.
One PA and MTR PA helped to:
Keep the Democratic margin of loss well below the national average (2.9% shift from 2020 compared to 6% nationally)
Despite lower Democratic turnout overall, minimize this reduction to 1.1% compared to 7.7% nationally
Narrowly hold a Democratic US House seat (CD-17)
Maintain a one-seat majority in the state house, while expanding the progressive coalition within the delegation
Flip a state senate seat blue (SD-15)
Minimize red gains in three highly competitive US House seats and Senator Bob Casey’s US Senate seat, which were lost by less than 1%
In 2024, Flip the Vote’s Pennsylvania partners helped staunch a national rightward shift, keeping the loss margins extremely thin, holding on to key seats, and building infrastructure to deepen their impact in the coming years. They did this through large and robust field, media, and organizing programs, tailored to the concerns of people in their communities.
By way of example, One PA’s contact rate from in-person door-knocking was 18%, compared to the industry average of 12%; this is likely due to their year-round deep canvassing, making them a trustworthy source of information. With Flip the Vote’s robust and steady support, One PA doubled its Guardians of Democracy (local, trained precinct leaders) program by expanding into Pittsburgh. Overall, the program grew to 45 Guardians, with great results – their contact rate was 34%!
MTR PA was able to expand into Hazleton, a city that is 63% Latino, as well as into two additional counties, Lancaster and Schuylkill, increase staff pay, and keep on several staff in Hazleton and Philadelphia post-election, positioning them well for the important work of 2025 and 2026.
What makes Pennsylvania crucial this cycle
In 2025, the state supreme court election will determine the balance of power, as three Democratic justices are up for reelection. Maintaining the Democratic majority would protect voting rights, fair redistricting in 2030, and free and fair elections for a generation. With consequential rights-determining issues increasingly being decided at the state level, reproductive and gender-affirming care, public education, and gun safety could also be at stake.
In 2026, three MAGA Congresspeople who won their seats by less than 1% will be up for reelection. These are prime pickup opportunities for retaking the US House.
What Flip the Vote’s support means for 2025 and 2026
With Flip the Vote’s support, One PA and Make the Road Action PA will be able to make gains towards their goals of combatting mis- and disinformation and also shifting the narrative about who is to blame for the difficulties, economic and otherwise, people in their communities face. They will do this by deepening partnerships with allies including other grassroots organizations as well as corporations, and engaging in innovative communications strategies. Both organizations are prioritizing expanding their membership, as well as registering and engaging voters for 2025 and 2026 elections and ensuring that their votes count.
One PA has prioritized flipping CD-10 (Perry) and has hired an organizer for an office in this district, in addition to continuing to defend CD-17. MTR PA is focusing on CD-1 (Fitzpatrick), CD-7 (Mackenzie) and CD-8 (Bresnahan), which are likely prospects to flip in 2026. Both groups will be active in this year’s State Supreme Court election and multiple state legislative races in 2026.
Both organizations plan to expand their Guardians of Democracy programs, whereby local, precinct-level leaders receive training and become responsible for ongoing, deep engagement with people in their immediate community. Building leadership within their communities depends on continued support, and Flip the Vote’s partnership is enabling these groups to keep staff on year-round, while promoting some from part-time canvassers to field organizers.
One PA is engaging in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of their programming and to inform future efforts; Flip the Vote is a partner in such collaborative evaluation efforts.
“This organization has been in the forefront of using deep relationship building and connecting that to electoral organizing to get the wins we want, but more importantly to show our people what is possible when they have a government that is functioning and a government that works for them. That is the work we are doing and continuing to do.”