Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 (partial returns from 1876) · 38 presidential cycles · 38 with a vote-share denominator · 34 with a national benchmark
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2012
87.1%
101,596 votes · D+75.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 86.0%
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt1904
66.5%
15,902 votes · R+37.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Calvin Coolidge, 1924 · 66.3%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
109,579votes
82.3% of the vote · D+64.8 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Joe Biden, 2020 · 106,048 votes
Republican
Dwight D. Eisenhower1956
35,266votes
30.7% of the vote · D+38.3 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952 · 35,000 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
John Kerry2004
+71.9pts D vs U.S.
Place D+69.5 · U.S. R+2.5 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · +71.3 pts
Republican
Calvin Coolidge1924
+20.1pts R vs U.S.
Place R+45.3 · U.S. R+25.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 · +18.2 pts
current representation
Current officeholders
DTony WilliamsState Senate · 8
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
U.S. House elections · 2 House
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row is a county-allocated estimate of U.S. House votes for this district — county returns apportioned onto its boundary, not precinct-counted. “Vote lead” is the estimated local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Source · Akashic county-allocated estimate from certified county returns, House; not precinct-counted.
Year
Vote lead
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
D
79.0%89,559
21.0%23,861
113,420
2018
D
79.7%52,115
20.3%13,263
65,378
Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District sits in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2024 it voted Democratic.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 75.2 points in 2012 and a Republican high of 45.3 points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 4.3 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 66.6 points.
A population of 255,286, a 26% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $52,813 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State Senate District 7 and State Senate District 28.
Akashic
Political twins — state-senate districts
The state-senate districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons → · Or open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-upper/42008/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
How did Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District vote in 2024?
In 2024, Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District voted Democratic by 66.6 points (D+66.6), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 122,883 votes cast, 101,607 went Democratic and 19,738 went Republican.
When did Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District voted Republican was 1924.
How many people live in Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District?
Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District has a population of 255,286 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District?
Median household income in Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District is $52,813 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Pennsylvania 8th State Senate District from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 30 went Democratic and 7 went Republican.