Democrats won in each of the three special elections in Allegheny County on Tuesday — a result which means the Democrats now hold a majority in the Pennsylvania House for the first time in over a decade.
Democrat Joe McAndrew defeated Republican Clay Walker in the 32nd Legislative District. Democrat Abigail Salisbury defeated Republican Robert Pagane in the 34th District. And Democrat Matthew Gergely won in the 35th District, defeating Republican Don Nevills.
The special elections were necessitated by the death of Rep. Tony DeLuca in October and two other House members vacating their positions following electoral wins for other offices in November.
The date for the elections had been contested by the Republicans, and Rep. Bryan Cutler (R) initiated a court case in an attempt to push the special elections for two of the seats to May. (The date for the special election for DeLuca’s vacated seat was not contested.) Speaker of the House Mark Rozzi (D) — who was endorsed by Cutler for the Speaker position — affirmed the Feb. 7 date after assuming the Speaker role. Cutler’s open support of Rozzi may have played a part in the court’s decision to deny Cutler’s request.
The three victories on Tuesday give the Democrats 102 seats in the 203-seat chamber.
Another special election is likely to be scheduled due to Republican Rep. Lynda Schlegel winning a special election on Jan. 31 to fill a vacant state Senate seat.
