The Democrats won two special election contests held in conjunction with yesterday’s primary election retaining seats formerly held by Democrats who moved on to other elected offices. The new members will not change the House Republican majority, but will increase the Democrat’s numbers by two, setting the stage with 111 Republicans and 92 Democrats heading into June’s final budget negotiations and votes.
In Allegheny County, Democrat Dan Miller won the 95th House District special election to replace Matt Smith (D) who was elected State Senator last November.
A resident of Mt. Lebanon, Miller defeated Republican Dan Remely and Libertarian George Brown. Miller is an attorney who focuses on special education issues. He also served one term as a Mt. Lebanon commissioner. During that time he served as president of the board.
In York, Democrat Kevin Schreiber won the Special Election for the 42nd House District, replacing Eugene DePasquale (D) who is now serving as Auditor General.
Schreiber, 33, is from York and currently serves as the economic and community development director for York city government. He won a three-way race, which included Republican Bryan Tate and Green Party candidate Bill Swartz.
Both representatives-elect are expected to take the oath of office early in June.
In other elections around the state, the statewide primary election for Superior Court resulted in Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jack McVay winning the Democratic nomination over Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Joseph Waters. On the Republican ballot, Cumberland County attorney Vic Stabile was unopposed.
Two mayors races garnered quite a bit of attention in the last few months. Bill Peduto won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Pittsburgh in a hotly contested race. The city councilman defeated former Auditor General Jack Wagner, State Representative Jake Wheatley and A.J. Richardson. In November, Peduto will face Republican Josh Wander.
In Harrisburg, bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse defeated current Mayor Linda Thompson and two other challengers to win the Democratic Primary for mayor. He will face Independent candidate Nevin Mindlin in the general election.