Allegheny County’s elections board voted unanimously Tuesday morning to certify results from the three Feb. 7 special elections for state House, sealing a Democratic majority in the chamber for the first time in more than a decade.
The Democratic candidates — Joe McAndrew of the 32nd District, Abigail Salisbury of the 34th District and Matt Gergely of the 35th District — all won their races by double-digit points against Republican opponents.
Nicole Reigelman, a spokesperson for the House Democrats, said the three winners intended to be sworn in Tuesday afternoon.
The special elections were a reaffirmation of last November’s election results, when Pennsylvanians voted to give Democrats a 102-to-101 majority, and are likely to end a current standoff about the state House’s operating rules. Pennsylvania will have a divided government for the next two years — Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, is in the governor’s mansion, and Republicans control the state Senate.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.unionprogress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20220201smElex02.jpg?resize=780%2C507&ssl=1)
All three districts are located in heavily Democratic parts of Allegheny County. The 32nd District, largely in Penn Hills, had been represented by the late Anthony DeLuca; the 34th District, centered on Braddock and other towns just east of Pittsburgh, was formerly represented by now-U.S. Rep. Summer Lee; and the 35th District, based in McKeesport and the Mon Valley, was last held by now-Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.
The elections board is composed of County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and the two at-large County Council members, Sam DeMarco III and Bethany Hallam.
Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.