Democrats gain control of the Pennsylvania House, ending GOP rule

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats won control of the Pennsylvania House in special elections on Tuesday, wresting partial power from Republicans for the first time in a dozen years in the competitive swing state.

Democrats won all three vacant seats in the Pittsburgh-area House of Representatives to maintain a narrow lead over Republicans, eventually securing a majority they appeared to have won in last November’s general election. Republicans still hold the Senate, creating a political divide that could make it difficult for lawmakers to send priority bills to incoming Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

The special elections crowned an election drama that lasted several months.

Republicans held a comfortable 113-90 majority in the House of Representatives last year. But redistribution of districts once a decade and a strong performance in statewide races helped the Democrats flip just enough seats in the fall election to win a 102-101 majority in the House of Representatives. Or so it seemed. Three of those Democratic seats quickly became vacant, raising uncertainty about who actually controlled the chamber.

Rep. Tony DeLuca died of cancer in October just before winning re-election, Rep. Summer Lee resigned after also winning a congressional election, and Rep. Austin Davis resigned before being sworn in as lieutenant governor.

This left Republicans with more people in the House of Representatives than Democrats and led to a political impasse. The chamber elected Democrat Mark Rozzi as speaker when the new session began Jan. 3, but only after Republican leaders and some other GOP members joined all Democrats in voting.

The House has been frozen since Rozzi took over, and has not passed internal operating rules, appointed members to committees, or passed legislation. Rozzi said last week he wants to retain the speakership when Democrats meet with their newly elected members.

At a news conference in Pittsburgh late Tuesday, Democratic parliamentary group leader Rep. Joanna McClinton said the three Democratic candidates were “thrown in the blender very quickly” to run in the special election.

She noted that Democrats have been in the minority in the House of Representatives for 24 of the past 28 years.

McClinton wants the speakership but said she doesn’t want to “rush ahead of the coming days” as the election results are fully tabulated and certified, and asked people to “please stay tuned to see what the will of this body is going to be.” , when the House returns to the voting session.

A few minutes after McClinton had finished his speech, the Secretariat sent out an email announcing that meetings in the House were to resume in two weeks.

Democrats had been expected to win Tuesday’s special election after easily winning the same seats last fall.

DeLuca’s former seat was won by Democrat Joe McAndrew, 32, a business owner who is a former Democratic State House staffer and former executive secretary of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee. Lee’s previous seat was won by Abigail Salisbury, 40, a barrister and Democratic member of Swissvale Borough Council. Matthew Gergely, a Democrat who works for the city of McKeesport, was elected to succeed Davis.

The special election came only after the courts dismissed an attempt by House Republican faction leader Rep. Bryan Cutler to block two of the campaigns from deciding Tuesday.

When the newly elected lawmakers take office, the House of Representatives may still be down by one representative. That’s because Republican Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver won a special election on Jan. 31 to fill a vacant Senate seat.

Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press

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