Race in Pennsylvania between Chris Deluzio and Rob Mercuri could determine control of U.S. House
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — All members of the U.S. House of Representatives are on the ballot next week, and the control of Congress depends on who wins. A race in Western Pennsylvania will help determine which party controls the House.
Seventeen Pennsylvania members of Congress are on the ballot this year, but only one in the Pennsylvania region is considered really competitive: the race between Republican challenger Rob Mercuri and incumbent Democratic Congressman Chris Deluzio.
"Despite the dysfunction that I've seen in Congress — the Republican majority has not accomplished very much at all — I've gotten a lot done for us here. We've seen more than $2 billion come back to this district, my team has cut through more than 2,000 cases for constituents."
A first-term congressman, Deluzio says he's delivered dollars for local projects and cites his work to enact rail safety legislation while Mercuri, a state representative from the Pine-Richland area, says Deluzio is too liberal for the district.
"In this moment, when we are very off track, economically, socially and in terms of our partisan differences, I'd like to be a positive unifying voice who brings jobs back to this region, grows our economy and creates opportunity for us all to move forward as a country," Mercuri said.
Voters in the 17th Congressional District, which includes many Allegheny County suburbs around Pittsburgh and all of Beaver County, are choosing between two military men. Deluzio went to Annapolis and Mercuri to West Point and both served in Iraq. But Mercuri says the similarity ends when it comes to policies.
"The whole agenda that he subscribes to is closely aligned to Bernie Sanders' kind of socialist revolution, which I think in Pittsburgh, we've got Sara Innamorato, Ed Gainey, Chris Deluzio, Summer Lee. These are all Bernie Sanders' acolytes," Mercuri said.
"Are you a Summer Lee progressive?" KDKA-TV's Jon Delano asked Deluzio.
"No, I am not. I am a Chris Deluzio Democrat, Western Pennsylvania Democrat," Deluzio said.
"Look, I think we have very different visions for this country," he added. "I talk a lot about freedom from these price-gouging corporations to bring down costs. The same problem I see there, this overwhelming corporate power, I see it in the lobbying against my rail safety bill."
Deluzio says it's Mercuri who is the extremist, citing his voting record in the state House, especially on abortion rights.
"He supported a six-week abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest victims – I mean, children for crying out loud – that would have put doctors in prison for up to seven years. He voted to change the Constitution in Pennsylvania to take away abortion rights," Deluzio said.
"You get portrayed as an extremist on this issue. Are you?" Delano asked Mercuri.
"I don't feel extreme," he replied. "I think I'm pro-life but I want the best for women and families, and I want them to have a choice within the law to raise their families."
"I think this is not a federal issue," Mercuri added. "It should be left to the states in this post-Dobbs, post-Roe era, and I support exceptions, compassionate, for rape, incest and the life of the mother."
Delano asked Deluzio if abortion is a big issue in his district.
"I think it is," he replied. "I think you see it in the polling. I hear it on the doors. I'm not just talking about Democrats – Republicans, Independents, people do not want to have the government making these decisions for them."
While both these candidates share similar backgrounds, there are substantial policy differences between the two. Whether Republicans continue to control Congress or the Democrats take it back could come down to the voters of the 17th Congressional.