Democrats hold on to control of the Pa. House in Lower Bucks special election

Democrats will again hold on to their majority in the state House, according to early returns in a special election Tuesday in Lower Bucks County.

Jim Prokopiak won the special election and reaffirmed Democrats’ one-seat majority in the state House, according to the Associated Press, which called the race for him at 8:07 p.m., just after polls closed.

Prokopiak — who will represent Falls Township, Tullytown, Morrisville and parts of Middletown Township — was running against Republican Candace Cabanas to fill a vacancy created by longtime Democratic Rep. John Galloway’s resignation in December. He left office after being elected a magisterial district judge.

Prokopiak, 49, is a lawyer and Pennsbury School District board member. He previously served as a Falls Township supervisor, where he worked with now-Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie. Cabanas, 45, is a restaurant server and former health-care aide.

Democrats have had to defend their majority four times since they took control of the state House in 2023. They have successfully run each on a promise to protect abortion access in Pennsylvania — with the help of a lot of money. For Prokopiak’s campaign, a national Democratic group poured in $80,000 in support.

“I ran for this seat because I want to make people’s lives easier in Bucks County,” Prokopiak, a father of three, said in a news release Tuesday night. “What I heard from voters is that Bucks County residents need help supporting their families, want control over their own bodies, and ensure they have the ability to chart their own paths in life. I’m committed to taking my conversations with voters to Harrisburg and making their dreams a reality.”

Cabanas, for her part, said she wanted to increase representation of working-class employees in Harrisburg and that, as a mother of three, she struggles with inflation and tax increases like others in the district.

Cabanas declined to comment Tuesday night.

Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee — a national group that spent tens of thousands of dollars on Prokopiak’s campaign — said Tuesday’s win “is a promising sign for Democrats up and down the ballot this year.”

Prokopiak previously ran for the seat in 2006, after former Rep. Thomas Corrigan retired. He lost the Democratic primary to Galloway, who rarely saw a Republican challenger over the years he represented the district. In 2022, Republicans did not put up a candidate, even after the district shifted slightly more Republican following statewide redistricting.

House members won’t return to Harrisburg until next month, when Democrats will reclaim their numeric majority and work to advance their priorities and negotiate a budget with the Republican-led Senate and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Another special election will be held in April in a Republican-leaning district to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Rep. Joe Adams (R., Pike) earlier this month, House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) announced Monday. Adams resigned due to a family matter.