Dem
47
GOP
53
On Monday, we discussed three special elections held Tuesday for state House seats. Democrats won all of them and maintained control of the Maine and Pennsylvania state Houses.
In Maine's HD-94 district, Lewiston City Councilman Scott Harriman (D) beat Lewiston school board member Janet Beaudoin (R) 572 votes (53%) to 503 votes (47%). That is a not a great turnout since Maine House districts have about 9,300 people each. It is cold in Maine in February. In 2024, Kristen Cloutier (D) beat Kendil Snow-Black (R) 60% to 40%, so Harriman underperformed the Democrat in 2024 by 7 points. Cloutier was then an incumbent, so that may have helped her in 2024. Harriman's election brings the Maine House to 75D, 72R with one vacancy almost certain to be filled by a Republican in the spring, and three independents. The election was called because Cloutier resigned her seat to become an aide to the state Senate president.
In Pennsylvania, there were two special House elections yesterday that could have altered the balance of power. Before the elections, the partisan breakdown in the state House was 100D, 98R, with five vacancies. Three of them are in deep-red districts and the elections will be held in the spring, so effectively, the House was slated to become 100D, 101R, plus the two seats up yesterday. In HD-22, in the Lehigh Valley, Ana Tiburcio (D) beat Robert Smith Jr., 1,474 votes (67%) to 717 votes (33%). Tiburcio ran on affordability. She is the first Latina in the state House from the Lehigh Valley. The seat opened up when Joshua Siegel (D) was elected county executive. In 2024, no Republican filed, so Siegel ran unopposed.
There was also a special election in HD-42, in suburban Pittsburgh. There, teacher Jen Mazzocco (D) crushed lawyer Joseph Leckenby (R) 10,419 votes (82%) to 2,330 votes (18%). In 2024, Dan Miller (D) beat Leckenby 67% to 33%. This is a 15-point shift toward the Democrats. HD-42 is a blue district, but a 15-point shift is clearly significant.
There are a few special elections for the U.S. House remaining, namely those for the seats of Marjorie Taylor Greene in GA-14 on March 10, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in NJ-11 on April 16, and the late Doug LaMalfa in CA-01 on Aug. 4. There are special elections for state Houses in Arkansas on March 3, Pennsylvania on March 17, Florida on March 24, and the Michigan Senate on May 5. And primary season is very nearly upon us, as well. Thank goodness, because we just haven't had anything to write about for the last couple of months. (V)