Vincent J. Hughes

State Senator Vincent Hughes is one of Pennsylvania’s leading Democratic voices on local, state, and national issues. First as a State Representative and now as a State Senator for the 7th Senatorial District, he has fought tirelessly for investments and progress in education, affordable housing, healthcare, gun violence prevention, mental health, voting rights, and much more.

In 2010, his colleagues elected him to be the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee to craft PA’s state budget of $47B+, one of the most important legislative responsibilities in PA government.

Throughout his career as an elected official, Senator Hughes has made education one of his top priorities. He is the recognized and accepted legislative leader in PA’s fight to adapt a constitutional and adequately funded K-12 education funding formula. Most recently he helped negotiate an over a $1 billion increase for Pre-K to 12 education funding to address the Commonwealth’s unconstitutional education funding system. He has also been a leader in the fight for free and affordable college. Senator Hughes introduced the PA Promise legislation, which provides grants to PA students to afford college, and was proud to advocate for a substantial increase in higher education investments in the FY23-24 budget.

He has successfully introduced, passed, and funded legislation to create and implement PA’s Diverse Teacher Pipeline program and Student Teacher Stipend program. And as a champion for literacy, Senator Hughes created the Read 2 Succeed program, which has helped thousands of PA teachers, students, and families in their effort to attain grade level reading.

As a champion for voting rights, Senator Hughes introduced legislation for Automatic Voter Registration in all state activities, which has since been adapted into AVR for all PA residents obtaining driver licenses and ID cards with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Senator Hughes also engineered the adaption of PA’s Constitutional Amendment banning discrimination based on race.

He is a member of Cheyney University’s Council of Trustees. He and his family established the James Hughes Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of his late father, which has awarded more than $1 million in college scholarships to talented students who have overcome challenges and want to make a positive difference in the world.

He is supported by his loving wife, actress, entertainer, and activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, and their blended family of four children.