Dems fare well, but U.S. House races underscore Pa.’s regional and political divisions

In the end, the outcome of the Pennsylvania congressional races may have suggested that one of the nation’s premier political battleground states had taken on a subtly bluer shade of purple as Democrats held three key seats targeted by the GOP wave, in addition to choosing a Democratic U.S. senator.

But if the congressional outcomes affirmed nothing else, it is that Pennsylvania remains a state deeply divided, with Democrats dominating in the population centers and Republicans elsewhere, said Jennie Sweet-Cushman, a political science professor at Chatham University, in Pittsburgh.

Yes, the state remains very much in play in national elections, so expect several visits from presidential candidates in 2024, she added.

Voters chose to return the Philadelphia region’s entire delegation to Congress and, on the other side of the state, for the first time elected a Black woman to serve in the U.S. House.

In Philadelphia, U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans won his race almost by acclamation, with over 95% of the votes over the nominee of the Socialist Workers Party.

In the Philadelphia collar counties, Democrats Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, and Mary Gay Scanlon all won by comfortable margins, as did Bucks County Republican Brian Fitzpatrick.

But Democrat Susan Wild, who represents Lehigh County, won by a membrane-thin margin in a race that wasn’t called until late Wednesday afternoon. Hers was one of the seats the GOP hoped to capture, along with one held by Matt Cartwright in Northeast Pennsylvania, who was reelected, and one in Western Pennsylvania that has been held by Conor Lamb, who did not run for reelection. Democrat Christopher DeLuzio was elected to succeed him.

As of Wednesday evening, Republicans had won 206 seats nationwide, gaining five, compared with 183 for the Democrats, who had lost seven but still hoped to gain enough to reach the 218 threshold for a majority.

It is impossible to know just how much of the turnout in Pennsylvania was generated by the U.S. House races, but it was unquestionably robust for a midterm election. When the final numbers are tabulated, it likely will rival the estimated 60% of 2018. Based on preliminary returns, 57% of registered voters cast ballots in the Senate race, alone.

In one of the marquee congressional races in Pennsylvania, Allegheny County Democrat Summer Lee, a state representative, defeated Republican Mike Doyle — not to be confused with the retiring incumbent Democrat Mike Doyle — in a race finally called Wednesday morning.

Lee, a lawyer and a former labor organizer, will be representing the heavily Democratic 12th District, which includes all of Pittsburgh and other areas of Allegheny County, along with a portion of Westmoreland County.

She had prevailed over four challengers to win the nomination in the primary.

Of note, said Sweet-Cushman, who is assistant director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics, Lee would become the fifth woman to serve in Congress in Pennsylvania — up from zero in 2015.

Pennsylvania’s 17-member delegation has just one other Black representative in Congress — Evans, who represents Philadelphia. The state has never had a female or Black senator or governor.

Democrats now will hold a 9-8 edge in the state delegation. Heading into the election, Democrats and Republicans each held nine Pennsylvania seats, however the state lost a seat to redistricting.

The Republicans tend to represent lesser-populated and rural areas.

“The urban-rural divide compounds that partisan divide,” said Sweet-Cushman. “It really is easy to demonize the other side.

“We’re doing a great job of it.”

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