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Dean
DeanUpdated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Democratic · 3 November 2026
Mary Gay Scanlon
U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district (since 2019)
Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat who has represented Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House since 2019, faces Republican Nicholas Manganaro, a retired financial professional, in her 2026 bid for reelection.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Mary Gay Scanlon.
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No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- August 30, 1959
- Birthplace
- Syracuse, New York
- Education
- Colgate University (Bachelor of Arts, 1980)
University of Pennsylvania Law School (Juris Doctor, 1984)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Mary Gay Scanlon was born on August 30, 1959, in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of Daniel Scanlon, an attorney who became a U.S. magistrate, and Carol Florence Yehle, an English professor at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, New York.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984. She then became a judicial law clerk for Judge J. Sydney Hoffman of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Career
Scanlon pursued a career in public interest law, working as an attorney with the Education Law Center of Philadelphia and later as pro bono counsel at Ballard Spahr, where she helped coordinate free legal services for low-income recipients. In 1994 she received the Fidelity Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association. She also served as president of the board of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District from 2009 to 2011.
After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court redrew the state's congressional map, Scanlon won the 10-person 2018 Democratic primary in the new 5th district with 28.4% of the vote.
On November 6, 2018, she defeated Republican prosecutor Pearl Kim in both a special election in the old 7th district, held to complete Pat Meehan's term, and the regular election in the 5th. She was sworn in for the 7th on November 13, 2018, and moved to the 5th on January 3, 2019.
She was reelected in 2020 with 64.7% of the vote. Her assignments include the Committee on the Judiciary, where she is ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, and the Committee on Rules.
2026 race
The 5th district is based in the southwestern suburbs of Philadelphia and includes all of Delaware County, parts of Montgomery County and parts of south Philadelphia. Mary Gay Scanlon, who was reelected with 65.3% of the vote in 2024, ran unopposed in the 2026 Democratic primary and received 76,009 votes. In the general election on November 3, 2026, she faces Republican Nicholas Manganaro, a retired financial professional who was unopposed in the Republican primary.