Democrats in Pennsylvania have flipped the state House for the first time in over a decade after winning all three special elections in the state on Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, Democrats Joe McAndrew, Abigail Salisbury and Matthew Gergely defeated their Republican opponents in Tuesday’s special election to give Democrats control of the Pennsylvania state House for the first time since 2010.
Democrats had already won all three seats in the November midterm elections giving the party a slight 102-101 majority. However, Rep. Tony DeLuca died of cancer weeks before the election and could not be removed from the ballot. Rep. Summer Lee resigned after she was elected to Congress and Rep. Austin Davis also stepped down after he was elected to serve as lieutenant governor with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
The death of DeLuca and the two resignations resulted in Republicans having a 101-99 seat majority and raised questions about who actually controlled the chamber. On Jan. 3, a few Republicans joined all Democrats to elect moderate Democrat Rep. Mark Rozzi to serve as an ‘independent’ Speaker, according to AP.
But, the chamber has been at a standstill since Rozzi took over. No rules or committee assignments have been passed, and no votes have occurred.
After the three wins on Tuesday, Democrats now have a total majority in the House and can elect a new Speaker. Rozzi says he hopes to keep the job but Democratic floor leader, Rep. Joanna McClinton is seen as the likely nominee.
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