> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://ivn.us/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Pennsylvania House Votes to Open Primaries — While 63 Legislative Races Have No November Contest
- URL: https://ivn.us/pennsylvania-house-votes-to-open-primaries-while-63-legislative-races-have-no-november-contest/
- Published: 2026-09-30T16:03:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-30T16:03:06.000Z
- Description: Pennsylvania's House passed a bill to open primaries to 1.5 million independent voters, but in 63 legislative races this year, only one candidate is running in November, making the primary the only real election.
- Author: Shawn Griffiths
- Tags: Open Primaries, Pennsylvania, #Top-Story

**HARRISBURG, Pa.** —A bill that would open Pennsylvania’s taxpayer-funded primary elections to roughly 1.5 million independent voters passed the state Assembly Tuesday, despite vocal opposition from both sides of the political side.

[House Bill 280 cleared the chamber in a 115-88 vote.](https://penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/bill-to-end-pennsylvanias-closed-primary-elections-passes-state-house/?ref=ivn.us) The legislation would implement semi-open primaries, meaning registered party members have to vote in their respective party’s primary, but [independent voters can choose between a Republican and Democratic ballot.](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/HTM/2025/0/HB0280/PN0223?ref=ivn.us)

Sixteen Republicans joined most House Democrats in supporting the reform. The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled state Senate.

IVN has followed the proposal since it advanced from committee in 2025, when sponsors Jared Solomon and Chris Rabb, both Philadelphia Democrats, argued that independent voters should not be excluded from elections they fund through their tax dollars.

During debate this week, Solomon told lawmakers that Pennsylvania's election system appears open and welcoming on the surface, but for unaffiliated voters, he said, "these voters are counted out each and every election."

Republican and Democratic opponents of the bill argued that all eligible citizens can vote in the general election and that primary elections are the domain of private political parties to pick their nominees.

Lawmakers who raised these arguments include Republican Rep. Wendy Fink of York County, “ “The primary is not an election in the purest form.” Democratic Rep. Greg Vitali of Delaware questioned why independent voters should have a say in choosing a party's nominee.

But Pennsylvania’s legislative map conflicts with the notion that the primaries are not pure elections. In many cases, they are the only real election.

## **In 63 Legislative Races, There Is No November Competition**

All 203 Pennsylvania House seats and 25 of the state's 50 Senate seats are on the ballot in 2026\. That is a total of 228 legislative elections.

[Current candidate data compiled by MultiState](https://www.multistate.us/elections/state?st=PA&ref=ivn.us) show that 63 of those 228 general-election races, or 27.6%, are completely uncontested. In those districts, only one candidate is running in November.

Sixty-five races lack a candidate from one of the two major parties, although two have another candidate on the ballot.

It is true that there will be an election. It is true that all registered voters will be able to cast a ballot. However, in one out of every four legislative contests this year, there won’t be a competing candidate to consider in November.

But that’s not the end of it.

Spotlight PA [noted earlier this year](https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/05/pennsylvania-primary-election-results-legislature-2026-elections/?ref=ivn.us) that the number of genuinely competitive districts in the General Assembly has been shrinking, making the primary in many districts "the only serious election" a candidate faces before taking office.

So, under these conditions, can anyone make the argument that primaries aren’t elections “in the purest form”?

If a district is overwhelmingly Democratic or Republican — or if only one candidate appears on the November ballot — the election that determines who represents the district occurs months earlier, in a primary where more than a million independent voters cannot participate.

HB 280 does not abolish partisan primaries or allow Democrats to vote in Republican primaries and vice versa. It would simply allow voters who belong to neither major party to choose one primary in which to participate.

The bill’s fate at this point is uncertain. The Senate has little time left in the current legislative session, and Republican leaders have said additional election changes should be paired with expanded voter ID requirements.

Still, Solomon has pointed out that the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly passed similar open-primary legislation in 2019.