The Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg will have a new party in charge of the state House come January.
Democrats have won control of the Pennsylvania state House for the first time in more than a decade.
State Rep. Todd Stephens (R., Montgomery) conceded his race in the 151st District to Democrat Melissa Cerrato on Thursday evening, more than a week after Election Day.
His concession statement read, in full:
It has been the honor of a lifetime representing the people of the 151st District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the last 12 years. While in years past I have been able to overcome the odds despite tremendously unpopular Republicans at the top of the ticket, the new 36% Republican district into which I was drawn, and a Gubernatorial candidate who received just 29% of the vote in my district, proved to be too much to overcome this year. After all the votes have been counted, it appears as though I will come up 57 votes short out of over 33,500 votes cast. I want to offer my sincere congratulations to Melissa Cerrato on being elected State Representative for the 151st District. I look forward to working with her in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition.
Though I am disappointed that I won’t be returning to Harrisburg to serve the community where I was born, raised and am raising my family, I am proud of my accomplishments including creating a program to ensure we have safe, clean drinking water, improving our child protection laws, vaccinating thousands of our most vulnerable neighbors during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing record-setting education funding for our schools without raising taxes and writing the most comprehensive animal protection law in the country. I’ll certainly look back at my time as your State Representative with pride.
Of course, these last 12 years wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing support of my wife, Nicole, my sons, Will and Ben, my parents, sister and our entire family. My family has had to make a lot of sacrifices over the years in order for me to serve our community, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them at home. Additionally, I’d like to thank my staff, both current and former. These men and women worked tirelessly over the years to serve the constituents of the 151st District, and I am immensely grateful for their dedication and efforts. I also want to extend my thanks and appreciation to all of my supporters, campaign staff, donors and volunteers. I’m indebted to each of you for your support and generosity. And of course, to the people of the 151st Legislative District, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to serve. I have had the good fortune to meet so many wonderful people along this journey and I will forever cherish the memories and relationships.
In closing, I am incredibly grateful for having had the opportunity to serve in the State House. They say when one door closes, another opens. I am not sure what the future holds for me, but I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to writing the next chapter of my professional life while focusing on the most important jobs I have - being a husband and a father.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely Yours,
Todd Stephens
A few hours later, Democrat Mark Moffa conceded the last disputed state House race, for Bucks County’s 142nd District, to Republican Joseph Hogan.
“While we stand to further narrow Joe Hogan’s current 53-vote lead, the ballots remaining in contention do not appear to be enough for me to pull ahead,” Moffa wrote on Facebook.
The Associated Press had previously called 101 races for Democrats and 100 for Republicans in the 203-member chamber. By Thursday night, Democrats had secured a one-seat majority.
Democrats’ pickup of a dozen seats has come as a shock to many in Harrisburg — including the party now slated to be in power.
Population shifts over the past 10 years from rural areas to suburban and urban parts of Pennsylvania — and the subsequent redrawing of political lines earlier this year to account for those changes — allowed the party to make many of these gains.
Democratic candidates won seats in safe blue areas such as Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, and Allentown, while also flipping redrawn suburban districts outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The party defeated a handful of GOP incumbents in these areas, including Stephens.
A Major Shift
With Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro controlling the executive branch, Democrats will have a much larger say in Harrisburg’s day-to-day agenda. Lawmakers from the party will be able to advance policy priorities such as raising the minimum wage or instituting LGBTQ non-discrimination protections, and block constitutional amendments from reaching voters.
Still, there will be a need for negotiations. The Democrats’ majority is so small they must be wary of defections, and Republicans will retain control of the state Senate.
“We’re gonna stop things that we think are bad for Pennsylvanians,” newly elected Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) said this week, “but we can get things done.”
Democrats are expected to nominate their floor leader Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) for speaker of the state House. She’d be the first woman and second Black legislator to hold the gavel.
But to win the position, she must have the support of a majority of lawmakers — and Democrats could technically be in the minority on Jan. 3, the first day of session
That’s because of the death of one Democratic lawmaker, and the impending resignations of two more.
State Rep. Tony DeLuca of Allegheny County died shortly before the Nov. 8 election but still appeared on the ballot and won. Allegheny County state Reps. Austin Davis and Summer Lee won races for lieutenant governor and Congress, respectively, and must resign their seats in January.
The speaker (whoever they are) will then call special elections for the open seats.
See also:
Cerrato Overtakes Stephens in Race for 151st District as County Continues Vote Count
Have Democrats Flipped the Pa. House? Here’s the Latest on the Deciding Races
Local Election Updates: Malagari Defeats Sodha, Collett Defeats Davies
Towamencin Residents Vote for Government Study Commission to Explore Home Rule Charter
Democrat Josh Shapiro Elected Governor of Pennsylvania, Defeating Republican Doug Mastriano
