How did Pennsylvania Democrats hold the House of Representatives during a red tide? Meet Frank Burns.

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HARRISBURG – Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives maintained their one-vote majority despite a statewide wave of GOP victories that flipped two congressional seats and could have ousted a veteran U.S. senator.

That’s largely because state Republican Frank Burns, a conservative Democrat from a district in the middle of a predominantly Donald Trump region, has held on to his seat.

In an era of Pennsylvania politics, Burns, of Cambria County, is one of the most critical members of the House of Representatives – both in elections and in winning votes in the narrowly divided chamber.

He rarely gives interviews. But in a victory statement, Burns said he was “humbled” by his voters’ support and offered something of a political mission statement.

“This election was a victory for the people of Cambria County and another humiliating defeat for the outsiders and local business elites who financed and organized an incredibly divisive, dishonest and vicious campaign,” he wrote.

“These people think they can treat Cambria County like their private country club and cash register, but I will not stop fighting them. We must continue to protect ourselves from those who actively exploit Cambria County residents for their own gain.”

Burns, a member of the House of Representatives since 2009, has carved out a specific and increasingly uncommon political niche.

When he first entered the chamber, Burns’ seat was surrounded by other Democratic districts filled with members with decades of experience building coalitions that included union miners, steel workers and other industrial workers. Maintaining these supporters meant casting a mix of pro-labor and socially conservative votes in the House of Representatives.

» READ MORE: Democrats maintain a slim majority in the Pennsylvania statehouse amid a red wave

At the beginning of his term, this approach was relatively common in the party. In 2011, Burns was one of dozens of Democrats who supported the bill provided legal protection for a person who, for example, shoots at an intruder in his home whom he considers a threat. That same year, a similar group voted for the bill tightening restrictions on abortion clinics.

Burns continues to cast these kinds of voices. But as Republicans increasingly flipped Democrat seats in rural areas, his legislative achievements within the party went from ordinary to extraordinary.

“Looking at the large number of rural settlements from the Susquehanna River to Youngstown, Ohio, Frank Burns is the last of the Mohicans,” said Bill DeWeese, a former Democratic House speaker who represents another rural district in western Pennsylvania.

Last session, Burns voted against bills that made this impossible create universal background checks for the purchase of firearms, add LGBTQ discrimination protection to state law and protect doctors and patients due to out-of-state abortion proceedings. All of these measures passed but were not passed by the GOP-controlled state Senate.

DeWeese credited Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives with advancing the party’s agenda without Burns’ vote. They did this by getting suburban Republicans on board, which allowed Burns to say “no” when “everyone in this room on both sides of the aisle knew he wasn’t going to survive certain votes.”

These “no” votes were combined with targeted economic populism.

For example, sponsored by Burns recent law this allows children of Pennsylvania military families to receive an education in the state even if they are transferred elsewhere.

He also voted for parts of House Democrats’ economic agenda, including budget deals that allocate billions of dollars to public education, a failed attempt to introduce recent railway regulations after the East Palestine train crash and a bill that would do just that increased protection of media consumers.

Burns made these political calculations over a 16-year period during which his district and region were changing rapidly.

Cambria County, which includes the town of Johnstown, was formerly the center of the American steel industry, and in the 1980s main producers in the region he fell.

Cambria was at the heart of Pennsylvania’s 20th-century Democratic coalition, which endured through much of the county’s industrial decline. For example, in 1986, when Democrat Bob Casey Sr. took office as governor outperformed Cambria County by almost 40 percentage points.

However, in 2008, when Burns won his seat, the relationship weakened. In the election that gave Burns a seat in the House of Representatives, former President Barack Obama won Cambria County less than a point.

This year, with the district’s votes almost completely tabulated due to problems with voting machines on Election Day, it appears that Trump outperformed Cambria by almost 40 percentage points.

So how did Burns fare?

Part of the answer has to do with his district.

When a legislative committee (with an apolitical tiebreaker) redrew the Pennsylvania House and Senate maps several years ago, it prioritized creating districts that reflected the sharply divided political views of Pennsylvanians.

This resulted in many strongly Republican or Democratic districts and a relatively compact number of swing districts.

Burns’ 72nd Legislative District should fall into the protected Republican category under most circumstances, but it has a few characteristics that make it possible for a politician like Burns to hold the position. It includes Johnstown, which, although it has changed in the positive direction over the years, has several Democratic-leaning precincts. It also includes municipalities that, while not necessarily blue, are less conservative than the rest of the county – such as Ebensburg, the county seat.

This is still a complex area for Democrats to break into. But another key element of Burns’ political approach explains why he can still do it: he knows his voters.

Social conservatism played a immense role in his 2024 re-election bid. His campaign website it included promises to fight for health care and public schools, but also vowed to stand for “conservative values,” including “love for God, country and our constitutional rights.”

DeWeese also credited Burns with running “bold” political campaigns focused on knocking on doors and showing up at every community event possible. This approach isolated him from national political trends for over 16 years.

The former speaker summed up the approach as “a good handshake, sincerity in eye contact and moderate voting records.”

Plus a race was the most exorbitant according to the financial reports of the pre-election campaign this year in the House of Representatives.

The Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a political action committee funded almost entirely by Philadelphia-area billionaire Jeff Yass, has sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads supporting Burns’ Republican opponent, Amy Bradley. Burns himself received millions from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Campaign Committee.

He used the money to finance advertisements accusing Bradley, a former director of the local chamber of commerce, of… destroying the local hospital and for is “bought out” by Yass. Burns also posted spots claiming he did voted for a tax cut and that “in Cambria County we believe in common sense, not woke politics“

Even Republicans who would like to take over his seat show grudging respect for Burns for knowing his district so well.

Elizabeth Havey, a longtime political activist who serves as secretary of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, told Spotlight PA, “I think Frank Burns’ position, if he ever retires, will be the Republican’s.”

“This is his testimony,” she added. “He knew people. I was told there were signs in the yards – Trump signs and next to them was a Frank Burns sign.

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