There is something clarifying about opening a fresh calendar. The pages are clean, the boxes empty, the year ahead undefined. It invites planning even as experience reminds us that no year ever unfolds exactly as written.
This will be another year when Pennsylvania finds itself under a political spotlight.
Presidential elections do that when perennial swing-state status can tip the balance in the Electoral College. Two years later, that focus rarely fades — it simply shifts to the midterms.
In the midterms, voters will decide control of Congress, Harrisburg and the governor’s office.
How Pennsylvania votes can have broad implications. The outcome could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. It could shape whether Pennsylvania’s General Assembly remains divided between a Republican-controlled Senate and a narrowly Democratic House. The governor’s race can offer early signals about the direction of the 2028 presidential primary.
All of that still sits firmly in “what if?” territory. What we know for sure? This will be the third election in a row in which Pennsylvania serves as a national litmus test.
In 2024, that role centered on the presidential race — and, as has so often been the case, the nation followed where Pennsylvania went. In 2025, the spotlight shifted to the state Supreme Court retention vote, when what is usually a quiet checkmark decision transformed into a heavily advertised, massively funded campaign.
There is little reason to believe the parties will pare back their spending in Pennsylvania for the midterms. It means that, yet again, residents will drown in election messaging.
That is what we can plan on seeing. What we need to do now is prepare for it.
A plan, like the crisp pages of a new calendar, is a blueprint for what will happen. In this case, it is the list of dates and actions between now and Nov. 3. Preparation, however, is what we do to get there.
The best way to prepare for an election — especially a year that promises to be heavy on rhetoric, spin and boundless donations — is to be informed. A voter who understands what a legislator can and can’t do is a voter who is harder to mislead. A voter who understands the issues is a voter who is less likely to be distracted by unrelated noise.
Perhaps most important to preparation is consistency. This is not work done once, but work done daily. It means keeping abreast of the issues and the players steadily over time.
That consistency matters because even the best-laid plans are easily upset. The calendar is already marked with important dates — the last day to file candidacy, the last day to register to vote, the last day to mail a ballot. But the trickiest moments are the blank spaces in between: the events that were not planned, and the impact they will have along the way.
What’s coming in 2026 is not just an election calendar. It’s a sustained political environment that will demand attention long before ballots are cast.
Being ready for that kind of year means understanding how power works, what elected officials can and cannot do and how decisions made early can shape outcomes long before Election Day. It means staying engaged even when the messaging is relentless and the volume is designed to exhaust rather than inform.
The dates are already written into the calendar. The harder work will come in the spaces between them.