Dem
51
GOP
49
Three Democratic candidates for the Pennsylvania state House won special elections on Tuesday, giving the blue team control of the chamber after a wild ride. Republicans had a 113-90 advantage in the state House last year, but the coattails of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) flipped it to 102D, 101R. But then, three Democratic seats became vacant due to death/resignations, giving Republicans temporary control of both chambers of the state legislature. That could be important if the Supreme Court rules in Harper v. Moore that state legislatures are free to ignore the election results and pick their own slate of presidential electors.
The state House has been frozen since Jan. 3 awaiting the three special elections Now the results are in and the Democrats again have a one-vote majority. Actually, temporarily that is a two-vote majority because state Rep. Lynda Schlegel (R) won a special election to a vacant seat in the state Senate.
The Democratic majority won't be able to get any bills to Shapiro, though because the Republicans have a 28 to 22 majority in the state Senate. Half the seats will be up in 2024. The Democrats need to flip a net of four seats and hold the House to get the trifecta in Jan. 2025. Fifteen Republicans and 10 Democrats are up in 2024. It is at least conceivable that in a blue wave that could happen because the districts are drawn by an bipartisan commission and are not designed to favor one party over the other. (V)