- Lead
- 46,296
- Total
- 137,946
- vs nation
- D+35.0
Pennsylvania 42nd State Senate District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 47,103
- Total
- 140,485
- vs nation
- D+29.1
- Lead
- 36,540
- Total
- 127,948
- vs nation
- D+26.5
- Lead
- 32,983
- Total
- 120,531
- vs nation
- D+23.5
- Lead
- 35,669
- Total
- 126,736
- vs nation
- D+20.9
- Lead
- 34,723
- Total
- 124,603
- vs nation
- D+30.3
- Lead
- 32,286
- Total
- 112,993
- vs nation
- D+28.1
- Lead
- 27,730
- Total
- 105,492
- vs nation
- D+17.8
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+33.6MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 250,0022024 5-year
- Population density
- 4,401 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 56.8 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $74,1542024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 72.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+44.7 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+48.6 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- State Senate District 43, PA · twin score 92.9
presidential history
Party record book
Pennsylvania 42nd 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
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
71.7%
102,033 votes · D+43.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 · 70.4%
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt1904
71.0%
14,750 votes · R+48.6 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · William McKinley, 1896 · 64.5%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
102,033votes
71.7% of the vote · D+43.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Joe Biden, 2020 · 92,530 votes
Republican
Dwight D. Eisenhower1956
62,880votes
48.0% of the vote · D+3.8 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1972 · 60,727 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
Walter Mondale1984
+44.3pts D vs U.S.
Place D+26.1 · U.S. R+18.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Michael Dukakis, 1988 · +40.1 pts
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt1904
+29.0pts R vs U.S.
Place R+48.6 · U.S. R+19.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · William McKinley, 1896 · +26.0 pts
Current officeholders
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
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.
| Year | Vote lead | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | D | 58.9%83,666 | 41.1%58,389 | 142,055 |
Pennsylvania 42nd State Senate District sits in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2024 it voted Democratic.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 44.7 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 48.6 points in 1904. The 2024 margin was 33.6 points.
A population of 250,002, a 73% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $74,154 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State Senate District 43 and State Senate District 55.
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.
District research tools
Open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report → · Browse all comparisons →
Pennsylvania 42nd State Senate District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-upper/42042/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.