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Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

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Pennsylvania State Senate District 5
Incumbent
Assumed office: December 1, 2024

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 is represented by Joe Picozzi (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Pennsylvania state senators represented an average of 260,237 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 254,698 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the Pennsylvania State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Pennsylvania legislators assume office on the first day of December after a general election.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article II of the Pennsylvania Constitution states:[2]

Senators shall be at least 25 years of age and Representatives 21 years of age. They shall have been citizens and inhabitants of the State four years, and inhabitants of their respective districts one year next before their election (unless absent on the public business of the United States or of this State), and shall reside in their respective districts during their terms of service.[3]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[4]
SalaryPer diem
$106,422.33/year$185/day

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election. There are no deadlines set in the state constitution on when a special election can be held.[5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Pennsylvania Cons. Art. II, §2


District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Pennsylvania after the 2020 census

On February 4, 2022, the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 4-1 to approve new state House and Senate maps.[6] House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R) voted no, while Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R), state Rep. Joanna McClinton (D), state Sen. Jay Costa (D), and chairman Mark Nordenberg voted yes.[6] These maps took effect for Pennsylvania's 2022 legislative elections.

How does redistricting in Pennsylvania work? In Pennsylvania, the statutory authority to draw congressional district boundaries is vested with the Pennsylvania General Assembly. These lines are subject to gubernatorial veto.[7]

State legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission. Established in 1968, the commission comprises five members:[7]

  1. The majority leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate appoints one member.
  2. The minority leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate appoints one member.
  3. The majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appoints one member.
  4. The minority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appoints one member.
  5. The first four commissioners appoint a fifth member to serve as the commission's chair. If the commission is unable to reach an agreement, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court must appoint a commission chair.[7]


The Pennsylvania Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and compact. Further, state legislative districts should "respect county, city, incorporated town, borough, township and ward boundaries." There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[7]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5
until November 30, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5
starting December 1, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Joe Picozzi defeated incumbent Jimmy Dillon in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Picozzi
Joe Picozzi (R) Candidate Connection
 
50.3
 
50,570
Image of Jimmy Dillon
Jimmy Dillon (D)
 
49.5
 
49,735
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
134

Total votes: 100,439
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Incumbent Jimmy Dillon advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on April 23, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jimmy Dillon
Jimmy Dillon
 
99.0
 
14,672
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.0
 
141

Total votes: 14,813
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Joe Picozzi advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on April 23, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Picozzi
Joe Picozzi Candidate Connection
 
99.6
 
6,818
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
25

Total votes: 6,843
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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2022

See also: Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2022

A special election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 was called for May 17, 2022.[8] The filing deadline passed on March 28, 2022.[9]

The seat became vacant after John Sabatina Jr. (D) assumed office as a judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, after being elected to the court in November 2021.

General election

Special general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Jimmy Dillon defeated Sam Oropeza in the special general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jimmy Dillon
Jimmy Dillon (D)
 
56.7
 
17,339
Image of Sam Oropeza
Sam Oropeza (R)
 
43.3
 
13,246

Total votes: 30,585
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Incumbent John Sabatina Jr. won election in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Sabatina Jr.
John Sabatina Jr. (D)
 
100.0
 
69,514

Total votes: 69,514
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5

Incumbent John Sabatina Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Sabatina Jr.
John Sabatina Jr.
 
100.0
 
23,624

Total votes: 23,624
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on April 26, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016.

Incumbent John Sabatina, Jr. defeated Ross Feinberg in the Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 general election.[10][11]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5, General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John Sabatina, Jr. Incumbent 67.09% 64,508
     Republican Ross Feinberg 32.91% 31,644
Total Votes 96,152
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State


Incumbent John Sabatina, Jr. defeated Kevin Boyle in the Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 Democratic primary.[12][13]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John Sabatina, Jr. Incumbent 51.01% 17,449
     Democratic Kevin Boyle 48.99% 16,757
Total Votes 34,206


Ross Feinberg ran unopposed in the Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 Republican primary.[12][13]

Pennsylvania State Senate District 5, Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ross Feinberg  (unopposed)

2015

See also: Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2015

John Sabatina Jr. (D) defeated Tim Dailey (R) in the special election on May 19.[14][15]

The seat was vacant following Mike Stack's (D) resignation after he was sworn in as Pennsylvania's new lieutenant governor.[16]

A special election for the position of Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 was called for May 19. Candidates were nominated by parties rather than chosen in primaries.[14]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 5, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Sabatina Jr. 75.5% 15,029
     Republican Tim Dailey 24.5% 4,876
Total Votes 19,905

2012

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of Pennsylvania State Senate consisted of a primary election on April 24, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 16, 2012. Incumbent Mike Stack (D) defeated Michael Tomlinson (R) in the general election. Neither candidate faced opposition in their primary.[17][18]

Pennsylvania State Senate, District 5, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMike Stack Incumbent 71.6% 65,587
     Republican Michael Tomlinson 28.4% 25,954
Total Votes 91,541

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2024, candidates for Pennsylvania State Senate District 5 raised a total of $8,657,297. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $455,647 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Pennsylvania State Senate District 5
Year Amount Candidates Average
2024 $2,874,900 2 $1,437,450
2022 $964,845 2 $482,422
2020 $583,543 1 $583,543
2016 $480,503 3 $160,168
2012 $302,491 2 $151,246
2010 $607,211 1 $607,211
2008 $469,619 2 $234,810
2006 $205,707 1 $205,707
2004 $756,538 2 $378,269
2002 $232,830 1 $232,830
2000 $1,179,110 2 $589,555
Total $8,657,297 19 $455,647


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Pennsylvania Constitution, "Article II, Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021
  2. The Constitution of Pennsylvania, "Article II, Section 5: Qualifications of members," accessed May 23, 2025
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  5. State of Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Constitution," accessed February 15, 2021 (Article II, Section 2)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dr
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 All About Redistricting, "Pennsylvania," accessed May 8, 2015
  8. The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Special election slated for Pennsylvania’s 5th Senate District," January 8, 2022
  9. Ballotpedia Staff, "Email communication with PA Elections Office of Communications and Press," January 19, 2022
  10. Pennsylvania Voter Services, "Candidate listing," accessed August 31, 2016
  11. Pennsylvania Department of State, "November 8, 2016, official election results," accessed May 17, 2017
  12. 12.0 12.1 Pennsylvania Secretary of State, "Election Information," accessed February 18, 2016
  13. 13.0 13.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2016 Presidential Primary," accessed August 2, 2016
  14. 14.0 14.1 philadelphiavotes.com, "2015 Primary Election Candidates," accessed April 8, 2015
  15. Pennsylvania Department of State, "Results of for Special Election - 5th Senatorial District," accessed June 23, 2015
  16. Philly.com, "Stack to resign Senate seat on inauguration day," January 8, 2015
  17. "Pennsylvania Secretary of State - Official General Election Results," accessed November 4, 2013
  18. "Pennsylvania Secretary of State - Official Primary Election Results," accessed November 4, 2013


Current members of the Pennsylvania State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:Joe Pittman
Minority Leader:Jay Costa
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
John Kane (D)
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
Patty Kim (D)
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
Gene Yaw (R)
District 24
District 25
Cris Dush (R)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
Kim Ward (R)
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
Jay Costa (D)
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (23)