Democrats The have turned the Pennsylvania State House Unexpectedly, the House of Representatives took control of the legislative chamber for only the second time in a decade.
The Associated Press confirmed That Democrats Had flipped 12 seats enough to secure a narrow majority of the state’s legislature HouseOn Saturday, it called the final outstanding race for Democratic candidate Melissa Cerrato.
Despite the outcome, there are still three seats that are vacant. Two Democratic state members have already taken their seats. House In November, members were elected to other offices while another member died. This could mean that Republicans will be back in the majority, at least until special election to fill the seats.
Like Michigan, there Democrats Majority control of both the state and the government House and Senate, the party attributed its wins to fairer legislative maps that limited the power of Republican gerrymandering efforts ― although Pennsylvania The independent redistricting panel that Michigan voters voted for in 2018 is not used by the state.
“One thing we’ve seen after decades of gerrymandered maps, that it turns out, 50% of Pennsylvania voters vote Democrat,” Joanna McClinton, a state representative from Delaware, will likely be the first Black woman speaker at the legislature. Pennsylvania House”, she said the day following the election. according to local TV station WHYY. “It’s an amazing thing. It’s an amazing thing what a fair opportunity and fair maps and a fair district will provide.”
The shocking victory also suggests that the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade heavily motivated voters to turn out and turn against Republicans, especially in battleground states where Democrats They argued that the vote would determine the future of abortion rights.
Democrats Will retake the control of the state House For the first time since 2011, this is the first time. Republicans will retain the majority in the state Senate.
Pennsylvania House Democrats Original declared victory on Nov. 9, when it was clear that the party had won 99 of the state’s 203 seats. The party leaders believed that they would win all three of the 203 seats in Philadelphia, despite the fact that ballots were still being counted.
State Democrats Enter the 2022 midterms with 12 seats to flip in order to remove the Pennsylvania House Republicans hold the majority. They were confident that high-profile races for U.S. Senate and governor would help them eat into the GOP’s margins, but flipping the chamber was considered a longer shot than similar efforts to win control of legislatures in Michigan and Arizona.
The States Project, a progressive organization that focuses on the state legislatures, invested money in Pennsylvania To boost candidates in key races. The group saw chipping away at the GOP majority as a way to help protect the 2024 presidential election from potential Republican efforts to undermine it ― as some GOP lawmakers in the state, including Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano, attempted to do after former President Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020.
The effort was even more important, Aaron Kleinman, States Project research director, told The Sunday Review prior to the election. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case which could give more power to state legislatures in order to challenge or overturn future elections results.
Democrats You will have to make compromises with Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled state Senate, but they could use the House Major priorities will be prioritized, including the expansion of voting rights and protection of abortion access.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) won the race to become the state’s next governor.
