Democrats retain slim majority in Pennsylvania House
Despite Pennsylvania going red for Donald Trump and likely to go for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick in the 2024 election, Democrats retained majority control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Friday by the slimmest margin possible: one vote.
Democrats retained control of the chamber 102-101 by holding onto a western Pennsylvania district, giving them just enough votes to keep the speakership and determine the chamber's voting agenda. Republicans' hopes of returning to control the chamber were dashed after two years in the minority.
Incumbent Rep. Frank Burns' win in the 72nd District was the final House race to be called in a year when none of the 203 districts are changing hands.
Burns beat Republican Amy Bradley, chief executive of the Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce and a former television news anchor and reporter.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said retaining the House majority was "one of the most challenging yet important priorities of the cycle," and that her party will be "a critical check on Republican extremism."
Burns, a conservative Democrat who supports gun rights and opposes abortion, has regularly found himself voting against his fellow House Democrats. He has long been an electoral target of Republicans, while many other similarly situated western Pennsylvania districts long ago flipped to the GOP.
The district includes Johnstown and a wide swath of Cambria County.
Burns' win is some consolation to Democrats in what has otherwise been a banner electoral year in Pennsylvania for the Republican Party. In addition to the favorable outcome for Trump, two Democratic congressional seats were flipped and Republican candidates won all three of the state row offices.
In the state Senate, where half of the 50 seats were up this year, Democrats and Republicans both flipped a single seat, leaving the chamber with the same 28-22 Republican majority it's had for the 2023-24 session.