(This story was updated at 10:49 PM on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, with additional reporting.)
Democrats on Tuesday claimed victory in a special election for three vacant House seats in Allegheny County.
According to these victories, Democrats are on track to gain a slim majority and control of the chamber for the first time in more than a decade. unofficial election results.
“As we think about the coming days, the coming weeks, the upcoming legislative session in Harrisburg, our caucus is excited,” said House Democratic Leader Joanne McClinton of Philadelphia.
Although Allegheny County only released mail-in voting results as of 10 p.m., Democratic candidates significantly outperformed Republicans.
Former legislative staffer and Allegheny County Democratic Committee chairman Joe McAndrew of Penn Hills won the 32nd Legislative District seat held by delayed Rep. Anthony DeLuca over Republican Clay Walker, a pastor and customer service provider from Verona. DeLuca died about a month before the election, but was re-elected anyway.
In the 34th District, lawyer and Swissvale Borough Council member Abigail Salisbury won the seat previously held by current U.S. Rep. Summer Lee. Her Republican opponent was Robert Pagane of Wilkins Township, a former police officer and kickboxing instructor.
Matthew Gergely of McKeesport won Lt. Gov. Austin Davis’ 35th District seat that became vacant when he was elected along with Gov. Josh Shapiro to lead the state government’s executive branch. His opponent was Republican Don Nevills of Clairton, a U.S. Navy veteran and diminutive business owner who ran unsuccessfully against Davis last year.
A special election in Allegheny County could pave the way for a deadlocked General Assembly
“I think what we saw tonight and what Pennsylvania wants is support for Josh Shapiro’s agenda and how we move forward under this governor. So my top priority is… understanding what he would like to see and how we can improve,” McAndrew said.
When asked about replacing Lee, the state’s first black congresswoman, Salisbury said she wanted to work difficult on environmental issues that Lee focused on.
“Everyone adds their own flavor to what they do. That’s why I always say that you can’t solve every problem in a given area. You just can’t do everything, you just have to try, little by little, as best you can and do the best you can,” Salisbury said.
While the election results give Democrats a two-vote majority, it’s still unclear how the chamber will function and who will lead it when the session resumes on Feb. 27 after nearly two months of inactivity.
On the day of the swearing-in on January 3, neither side had enough votes to elect a chairman. In an unexpected compromise, Speaker Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, was elected in a bipartisan vote after promising to lead the House as an independent. But Rozzi remains a Democrat, which has raised the ire of his Republican supporters.
Democrats have expressed a desire to replace Rozzie with McClinton. That would require Rozzie, who has said he plans to stay on the podium, to vote for his own removal or for Republican supporters alienated by him to vote for McClinton, Dan Mallinson, an assistant professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, said.
“The math is hard when it comes to eliminating it. That may not happen if Republicans want to create a lot of chaos,” Mallinson said. “It’s very chaotic and hard to predict what will happen next.”
While the House adjourned, Rozzi toured with six other lawmakers from the Republican and Democratic parties, gathering input from residents on how they wanted the House run.
Mallinson said the overarching theme of the hearings was that people want to see bipartisanship. If the partisan gridlock continues, it could further erode public trust in state government, he said.
And with at least two Democratic representatives running for higher office this year, it’s possible the majority in the House of Representatives will change again later this year.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to be a really difficult legislative environment for two years,” Mallinson.
Legislative intrigue in Harrisburg did not result in huge turnout in Allegheny County districts, which include racially and economically diverse communities in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs.
Election board officials at Oakmont United Methodist Church said turnout was “sad” as of noon Tuesday, with fewer than 50 votes cast in one precinct, but a huge number of absentee ballots still uncounted.
In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, McAndrew said he believed all mailed ballots would be counted and a winner would be determined shortly after polls closed. “While we don’t know the exact number of mail-in votes, we do know that approximately 5,200 Democrats voted by mail to 1,100 Republicans,” he said.
A last-minute get-out-the-vote action Tuesday morning also helped draw a few additional voters to the polls, McAndrew added. “
We received several calls from people questioning the conduct of the elections, we verified it with them and they said they would go to vote,” he said.
Patty Bencivenga, 68, of Wilkinsburg in the 34th District, said that when she voted at her polling place around noon, she was only the 43rd voter of the day. After voting for Lee earlier, Bencivenga, a retired nurse, stated that she voted for Salisbury because she would be able to continue the work that Lee had started.
“Above all, she is progressive, community-minded and pro-choice. This is a large deal for me,” Bencivenga said.
Her mother was also a nurse and had seen many women who had experienced back alley abortions before Roe v. Wade. “She said: If you ever see a woman suffer, you would never want that to happen to another woman. And I continue to do that,” Bencivenga said.
June Luciana of Oakmont said she has voted Republican in every election since she was 18, and did so again on Tuesday.
Leaning on her cane outside Oakmont United Methodist Church, Luciana said the election would be determined by the number of absentee ballots, not voters who cast their ballots in person, which she disagrees with.
“I don’t believe in postal voting. I think if you don’t have to leave your house, you should go out and vote,” Luciana said. She admitted she didn’t think Republicans had much of a chance in a district where DeLuca held office for four decades. “I don’t think we’ll turn it around this time,” she said.
