Andre Carroll, Keith Sea Harris without opponent in special election Tuesday

On Tuesday, Northwest Philadelphia and North Philadelphia will hold (special) elections to fill two vacancies in state representative seats in Harrisburg after Democratic incumbents resigned this summer.

It’s infrequent for a special election to be held so close to the election, less than two months before voters return to the polls to elect their state representatives to two-year terms. But Democrats, who hold a one-seat majority in the state House, are at a standstill until the two vacancies are filled.

Keith Sea Harris, a 28th Ward leader and local landlord, is running unopposed in North Philadelphia to fill the vacancy created by Rep. Donna Bullock’s resignation two months ago. Bullock left the state House to run the nationally recognized nonprofit Project HOME, which combats homelessness.

Harris, who has campaigned for numerous city, state and federal politicians in Philadelphia, said he is considering a run.

Andre Carroll, a progressive field organizer for two Working Families Party members on the City Council, was already on the shortlist to succeed Rep. Stephen Kinsey when Kinsey announced he was not planning to seek reelection last year. Kinsey resigned earlier, opting not to finish his term after more than a decade in the state House.

Carroll is running unopposed to represent Northwest Philly in a special election Tuesday and on the November ballot, and will be in Harrisburg sooner than expected. He will be the first openly gay person to represent the Germantown district and join a handful of other LGBTQ members in the General Assembly.

With neither candidate facing a Republican challenger, Carroll and Harris are expected to emerge victorious in Tuesday’s election. They will be elected only to fill the remainder of Kinsey and Bullock’s terms, which run through the end of November.

A press secretary for House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) criticized Democrats for holding a special election just seven weeks before candidates are due to appear on the ballot again in November.

“Given that these members will only serve a limited number of weeks before the general election, the only need for this costly special election at such a late date is so that House Democrats can continue to gerrymander House members’ constituencies,” spokesman Jason Gottesman said in a statement in July. “We trust the people of Pennsylvania to hold House Democrats accountable for their continued political gamesmanship and open partisanship in November.”

Both Carroll and Harris were selected by precinct leaders in secret ballots, similar to what the Philadelphia Democratic Party does to fill vacancies.

Mental health and gun violence top candidates’ priorities

Harris said he hopes residents in the neighborhood know he is accessible and willing to talk about their problems. They will likely resonate with him, he said, after losing several of his brothers and sisters to addiction.

“I understand the plight of the community,” said Harris, who helped found a Narcotics Anonymous group at North Penn Baptist Church in his ward.

He added that he will model his leadership on Bullock.

“I want to rule with love like she did,” Harris said.

Harris said that if elected, his priorities would include increasing the availability of mental health care as well as creating more affordable housing options in the city.

Carroll, a 33-year-old progressive who is set to represent the 201st Congressional District, previously told The Inquirer that gun violence and mental health services are top issues for him, especially making sure newborn people get the mental health facilitate they need as they deal with the trauma of losing a friend or classmate.

“I think a lot about how we’re asking young people to deal with something that even we adults can’t deal with,” Carroll told The Inquirer earlier this year. “Death is one of those things.”