HARRISBURG, Pa. - Democrats’ narrow majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is on the line Tuesday with two special elections that will determine which party controls the chamber.One of those contests is expected to swing Republicans’ way, but the other in Delaware County, in the Philadelphia suburbs, will be more competitive.
It's the second time this year that Democrats have sweated the outcome of House special elections, and they hope to be just as lucky as before.The stakes are high: A Democratic victory in Delaware County would give first-term Democratic Gov.
Josh Shapiro at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The results could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.In that race, Democrat Heather Boyd, a former congressional and state legislative aide, is competing against Republican Katie Ford, a military veteran, school volunteer and behavioral therapist.
The seat opened up in March after the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel, who was accused by a labor lobbyist of sexual harassment.Zabel flipped what had been a reliably Republican district when he was elected in 2018, thanks in part to a voting pattern shift in recent years toward Democrats in Delaware County and the other Philadelphia ring counties of Bucks, Chester and Montgomery.