Democrats Capture Majority in Pennsylvania’s Statehouse After Special Election

It only takes one member of Pennsylvania’s statehouse to upset the delicate power balance. In a special election held Tuesday for House District 140 in Bucks County, the Associated Press called the race for Democratic candidate Jim Prokopiak, giving Democrats a slight majority in the House.

With 66 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr. Prokopiak had 5,285 votes, or 70 percent, compared to Republican Candace Cabanas, with 2,293, or 30 percent of the votes.

Tuesday started with a snowstorm, but roads were cleared well before the polls closed. Still, voter turnout was low in Bucks County, which has 20,536 registered Democrats, 13,502 Republicans, and 7,147 “other” registered voters.

With this special election, the statehouse has 102 Democrats and 100 Republicans. It is possible they will return to work now.

The House has not been in session since December, when Democrat Rep. John Galloway resigned to become a magisterial district judge, leaving the House with 101 Democrats and 101 Republicans. While members did attend Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Feb. 6 budget address, the House did not convene to conduct business that day.

The House is called to session by Democratic Speaker of the House Rep. Joanna McClinton, but with the chamber split at 101-101, Republicans could have called for a reorganization, and potentially ousted her as speaker.

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There is another wrinkle. The tie was actually broken on Feb. 9 when Republican Rep. Joe Adams resigned effective immediately after receiving medical news in his family that required his attention. His departure gave Democrats the edge, 101-100.

Had Republicans won Tuesday’s special election, the House would have returned to that 101 tie. As it stands, the House has 102 Democrats, 100 Republicans, and one vacancy.

A special election for Mr. Adams’ former seat in the 139th district will be held during Pennsylvania’s primary election on April 23. The district covers Pike County, a rural, Republican-leaning area.

Majority Tug of War

After the November 2022 election, the Pennsylvania House had 101 Republican and 102 Democrat seats. It was a Democrat majority for the first time since 2011.

But immediately after the election, before the House was sworn into office in January, Democrats had three vacant seats, giving Republicans the majority, 101 Republicans and 99 Democrats.

One Democrat seat was empty because longtime Democrat Rep. Anthony M. “Tony” DeLuca died after the ballots were printed. Voters chose him posthumously.

Two other seats were immediately vacated by candidates who ran for two offices at the same time and won both seats. They both left their House seats for higher offices. Former state Rep. Austin Davis is now lieutenant governor, and former state Rep. Summer Lee is now in Congress.

By February, Democrats had won special elections to fill the three vacancies, and the power was back to 102 Democrats and 101 Republicans.

But in July, former state Rep. Sara Innamorato, a Democrat, left the district representative seat to run for the position of Allegheny County Executive. The House was again tied at 101 for each until a September 2023 special election where Democrat Lindsay Powell prevailed, moving the power back to Democrats 102 and Republicans 101.

While some states have part-time lawmakers, Pennsylvania’s 253-member General Assembly—that is, House and Senate—is full-time and well-paid.

The base salary for House members is $106,000, but leadership gets more from taxpayers. Ms. McClinton is paid $ $166,132 a year. Republican House Leader Bryan Cutler is paid $ 154,192 annually. The median household income in Pennsylvania is $73,000.