A special election for Pennsylvania‘s state Senate race could throw the state House into further chaos by eliminating either party‘s claim on a majority until late next year.
Currently, the Republicans hold the majority in the House over the Democrats, 101 to 99. Three seats sit vacant but are expected to be Democratic wins, with a special election for one of the seats set for Feb. 7.
However, Rep. Lynda Schlegel-Culver (R) is running for the state Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Sen. John Gordner (R), with a special election set for Jan. 31.
If Culver wins the state Senate race, and Democrat Joe McAndrew wins the Feb. 7 election, the House will split, 100 to 100, causing neither party to hold a majority.
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To avoid this, House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton wants to hold the remaining two House seat special elections on Feb. 7 as well. However, House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler wants to wait to hold the remaining two elections until May 16, the date of the spring primary.
Cutler lays claim to the majority leader position, stating Republicans hold the majority and that it is his decision. Postponing the special elections until May 16 would allow House GOP members to push forward proposed constitutional amendments while they still have the majority, such as declaring that abortion is not protected by the state constitution, many are speculating, per the Post-Gazette.
The House Republican leader filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent McClinton from scheduling the primaries.
However, if the three vacant seats are filled on Feb. 7, McClinton and the Democrats would reclaim the House majority for the first time in over a decade. As the seats are expected to flip Democratic, therefore giving Democrats the majority, McClinton is also claiming she has the right to set the special election dates and filed writs to do so.
“Today, Rep. Cutler continued his campaign to disenfranchise nearly 200,000 voters in suburban Pittsburgh,” Nicole Reigelman, spokeswoman for McClinton, said last week. “The only reason for the GOP leader to delay special elections in Districts 34 and 35 in Allegheny County until the May Primary is to deny those voters their right to representation in Harrisburg and to empower the House Republican Caucus to play politics and ram through extremist policies.”
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The Department of State argued that McClinton’s writs should be honored as she issued them first earlier in December. Cutler issued writs last week.
A status conference for the lawsuit is scheduled for later this week, per the Post-Gazette.
