2026 Pennsylvania General Election 

Abigail Salisbury

Buket Urgen

Abigail Salisbury was elected to the House in 2023 to represent the 34th Legislative District in Allegheny County.
Salisbury was born in Conneaut, Ohio, and her family later moved to a suburb of Erie, PA. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2004 and earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2007. She also graduated from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013.

Rep. Abigail Salisbury | Biography

Key issues for Salisbury include updating infrastructure, standing up for human rights for all citizens, fostering small business development, supporting public schools, and preserving the environment.

Salisbury resides with her husband in Swissvale.

Abigail Salisbury graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2004, earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2007, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in 2013. She resides with her husband in Swissvale.

Rep. Abigail Salisbury | About the District

#### Raising the Minimum Wage

The time is now to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.

Issues – Salisbury for PA 34

Calls for raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage.

- Calls for raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage.

Economy

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, there have been discussions both about limiting abortion access and expanding it. What changes, if any, would you favor to the state's current abortion laws?
I am pro-choice. We must ensure reproductive freedoms in all forms. We must guard against any stripping away of our access to a safe abortion in Pennsylvania, and we must fight to ensure that nothing like the IVF restrictions visited on other states can ever occur here.

Pa. State House 34th District primary: Comans v. Salisbury | 90.5 WESA

Supports legalizing marijuana and psilocybin, sold through a state system or state-licensed small businesses, without excluding people with marijuana-sale convictions.

This year, the governor is pressing to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, an issue that may well still be on the table when the winners of this year's election take office. Are you in support of legalization, and if so, who should be allowed to sell marijuana?
I support the legalization of both marijuana and psilocybin. I believe that we must either sell it through (a) a state system like that used in our wine and spirits stores or (b) small businesses licensed by the state. In the case of (b), we must not exclude those who have convictions for selling marijuana, lest we be hypocritical with the legalization process.

Supports abortion access and reproductive freedoms, including protections against restrictions on in vitro fertilization.

- Supports abortion access and reproductive freedoms, including protections against restrictions on in vitro fertilization.

Healthcare

What should be the state legislature's top priority in the next term, and how would you address it?
Our system of public education has been declared unconstitutional and correcting that deficiency needs to be our top priority. At the root of the problem is that we fund public education in large part based on local property taxes, which means that if a child’s parent/guardian can afford to live in a high-end zip code, they get a more expensive and potentially better education. This is not only unconstitutional, but unconscionable.
In my capacity as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will be working to further a fair system of public education funding in Pennsylvania, one that invests in our children’s educations and their school infrastructure.

Pennsylvania's system for funding public education has been found to violate the state's constitution, and there are perennial complaints about school district property taxes. What approaches do you favor to address those concerns, and what changes, if any, should be made to funding for alternatives to traditional public schools, such as charters and private schools?
I addressed this a bit in my previous response, so I will focus on the response to the charter school question. I am proud to be a cosponsor of legislation that would reform the funding of charter schools to make the money they take away from our public schools actually match up with the value of the education they provide by tying their compensation to their real costs, particularly for cyber charters.

#### Education to Meet Tomorrow's Challenges

We must invest in people and recognize that we all have unique skills and dreams. Our public schools need our support. We must work to create pathways to fantastic futures through not only college preparedness, but also access to skilled trade training programs.

Salisbury for PA 34 – Service, Safety, Success

Calls for schools where LGBTQ children are safe and welcome, along with broadly available anti-discrimination protections.

Based on this, what do you understand to be our top LGBTQ concerns and priorities for the General Assembly? How will you respond to those priorities? Something I say a lot is that LGBTQ rights are human rights, and that I will always fight for human rights. We need to make sure that LGBTQ children are safe and welcome in schools and that we have solid anti-discrimination protections that are available to everyone, not just those whose cases are monetarily interesting to lawyers. The “gay panic” defense is unacceptable.

Q&A with Abigail Salisbury, Candidate for PA State House District 34

Plans to work for a fair Pennsylvania public-school funding system that invests in students and school infrastructure.

Co-sponsored legislation to tie charter-school compensation, particularly for cyber charter schools, to their actual costs.

Supports public schools, college preparation, and skilled-trade training programs.

- Plans to work for a fair Pennsylvania public-school funding system that invests in students and school infrastructure.
- Co-sponsored legislation to tie charter-school compensation, particularly for cyber charter schools, to their actual costs.
- Supports public schools, college preparation, and skilled-trade training programs.

Education

Calls for incentives for surfaces that absorb rainwater and municipal funding to improve systems for managing stormwater.

In terms of working in the General Assembly, I would like to see tax incentives for removing surfaces that are impermeable to water (I removed the asphalt parking lot behind my law office when I saw Dr. Mercurio’s mapping work). Climate change means that we will have more rain than snow and that our ground will often be oversaturated, leading to sewage overflows, sewage backups into people’s basements, landslides, and other negative consequences. We need to incentivize permeable surfaces and provide municipal funding for improvement to stormwater management systems.

Energy & the Environment

Opposes use of the “gay panic” defense.

Public Safety

As a council member, pushed to livestream meetings and allow live public comments during meetings.

Council typically had a traditional form of public comment in which people would attend meetings in person, give their names and speak for a few minutes on their topic of choice. I knew that it was not really giving a speaking opportunity to people who could not attend meetings due to a variety of reasons, such as childcare or other caretaking obligations, shift work, transportation restrictions, physical limitations, etc. What I did not think about – and I thank people for telling me this – was that some people did not feel that they could participate in council meetings because they took place in the same building as the police station and they were from groups that were disproportionately mistreated by the police. I pushed for us to livestream meetings and we allowed live commenting during the meetings. I felt that this helped to foster a sense of community for those who could not attend meetings, and I would watch the comments to see if anyone needed to have an issue addressed or explained, to make sure it was handled in the moment.

Voting & Elections

- Your state representative represents the interests of your local district in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. The State House of Representatives, along with the State Senate, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
- Your state representative can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws, including introducing tax bills. 
- State representatives and their staff respond to constituent concerns and questions through emails, phone calls, and website announcements. 
- State representatives oversee the executive branch and can vote to overrule a veto by the Governor.  
- They are elected to two-year terms and have a salary of $106,000, with a 1-3% annual increase

Your representative and state lawmaker in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives