A long shot for Republicans and a necessity for Democrats, the special election Tuesday for Pennsylvania’s 21st legislative district will determine who succeeds progressive firebrand Sara Innamorato in Harrisburg.
With control of the state House temporarily deadlocked, Democrats are expecting an easy win in the heavily blue district to break the tie, but there are no guarantees in politics.
Democrats are putting their hopes in first-time candidate Lindsay Powell, a Lawrenceville resident who works as director of workforce strategies for InnovatePGH.
Republicans are putting up one of their party stalwarts for election, asking voters to pick Erin Connolly Autenreith, who chairs the Shaler GOP.
It will be a steep climb for Autenreith based on numbers alone. As of Tuesday afternoon, Allegheny County had received more than 4,000 completed mail-in ballots from voters, 83% of which were submitted by Democratic voters. Of the outstanding 1,800 mail-in ballots yet to be returned, 1,400 are held by Democrats, according to the county.
Powell, who sits on the board of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, has won the backing of some of the area’s most influential Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio and Summer Lee. At InnovatePGH, her work is focused on “creating employment opportunities for underrepresented technologists in the Pittsburgh tech ecosystem,” according to her campaign.
A self-proclaimed “common sense Pittsburgher,” Autenreith is a real estate agent and previously ran for state House in 2000. Her father served as mayor of McKees Rocks, and her mother was on borough council, the Associated Press reported.
The winner of the seat will serve out the remainder of Innamorato’s term through 2024. She resigned her seat this past summer to focus on her run for Allegheny County executive.
To vote in Tuesday’s special election, voters can check their registration status here, then see if their home voting precinct is included in this contest using this list. Voters can then find their polling place by plugging their address into this tool.
Julian is the Western Pennsylvania politics and government bureau chief at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.