Control of the Pa. House of Representatives up for grabs in Mon Valley special election
Control of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives now hangs in the balance as a special election tomorrow in the Mon Valley will have voters choose someone to complete the term of late Democrat Matt Gergely.
The House has been deadlocked for months, but tomorrow, all of that will change when the election in the Mon Valley will set the tone for all of Pennsylvania.
A House at a standstill will finally have some motion.
"That's why all eyes across Pennsylvania, politically, are looking on this district in the Mon Valley," said former KDKA-TV Political Editor Jon Delano.
The district includes McKeesport, Duquesne, Clairton, and White Oak, it's also a region that typically leans to the left.
Delano said that, despite those leanings, you never know what could happen in a special election.
"The difficulty in special elections is that the vast majority of voters will not vote," he said. "90% of the voters in the district are not likely to cast a ballot tomorrow, so it's really a question of who comes out to vote."
The seat was formerly held by Democratic Representative Matt Gergely. He died in January following a medical emergency, leaving both the House Democrats and House Republicans tied with 101 seats each.
Now, three candidates are running for the seat and they include Democrat Dan Goughnour of McKeesport, Republican Charles Davis of White Oak, and Libertarian Adam Kitta.
It could be anyone's race.
"Special elections are not like general and primary elections where it's easy to predict what's going to happen," Delano said.
The candidate who wins will serve this year and then run for re-election next year.
