Mandy Steele Wins Pennsylvania 33rd House Seat
Democrat Mandy Steele won reelection to the Pennsylvania 33rd state House District, defeating Republican Mike Hammill.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Secondary Education
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Democrat Mandy Steele won reelection to the Pennsylvania 33rd state House District, earning about 64% of the vote with 16,807 votes. Republican Mike Hammill, a council member from O'Hara, received about 35% with 9,259 votes.
Why it matters
Steele said policy affecting children is near the top of her priorities, and she spent the past year lobbying for legislation banning cellphone use in schools. That ban passed the House and Senate in October and was signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro, which directly affects how students in Pennsylvania use phones during the school day.
Steele's 16,807 votes represented about 64% of the district's vote in the general election, while Hammill's 9,259 votes represented about 35%. The extraction does not specify total turnout, so the full size of the electorate that cast ballots is not reported.
The players
Mandy Steele
Mandy Steele is a Democrat who has served as the incumbent state representative for Pennsylvania's 33rd House District, and she was reelected in this race.
Mike Hammill
Mike Hammill is a Republican who serves on O'Hara Council, a Navy veteran, and a dialysis technician who ran against Steele for the 33rd District seat.
Josh Shapiro
Josh Shapiro is the Governor of Pennsylvania, who signed the cellphone-use-in-schools ban into law.
The details
The 33rd state House District stretches from Aspinwall to Harrison, and Steele is a lifelong Fox Chapel resident. Steele said she spent the last year lobbying for legislation that bans cellphone use in schools, which passed the House and Senate in October before Gov. Josh Shapiro signed it.
Timeline
Last year (2025): Steele spent the year lobbying for the cellphone-use ban legislation.
October 2026: The House and Senate passed the cellphone-use ban in schools.
November 3, 2026: Steele was reelected to the 33rd state House District seat.
Roadmap
Steele's reelection follows her lobbying effort for Pennsylvania's school cellphone-use ban, which passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro. Her win places a legislator who championed this restriction back in the state House for another term.
For students in Pennsylvania, the new law restricts cellphone use in schools, which changes how phones are handled during the school day. Families and school staff should review how the ban is applied in their own districts once it takes effect.
The takeaway
Policy advocacy by individual legislators can translate into statewide rules affecting students. Readers interested in school policy can track how the cellphone ban is implemented across Pennsylvania districts.
Further reading
Explore more on Secondary Education for context on school policies like the new cellphone restrictions.
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