It’s Election Day in a western Pennsylvania legislative district in a race that will determine whether the Democrats regain control of the battleground state’s lower chamber or if Republicans win back the State House majority.
The Pennsylvania State House is currently deadlocked, with Democrats and Republicans each controlling 101 seats.
Democrats lost their razor-thin majority in January after the death of state Rep. Matt Gergerly.
Voters in District 35, located southeast of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday are choosing between Democratic candidate Dan Goughnour, a police officer, Republican Chuck Davis, a fire chief, and libertarian Adam Kitta.
DEMOCRATS FAR FROM THRILLED ON POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL REEMERGENCE
If Democrats end up winning the election – the district leans blue – it will be the fifth time this year they’ve come out on top in a special legislative election with a state majority up for grabs.
It comes as the Democratic Party tries to emerge from the political wilderness after November’s stinging election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and U.S. Senate and fell short in its attempt to win back the U.S. House majority from the GOP.
POLL POSITION: DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S NUMBERS PLUNGE TO ALL-TIME LOWS
And recent polling indicates the Democratic Party brand is in need of repair.
The party’s favorable rating sank to all-time lows in separate national polls conducted this month by CNN and NBC News. Those numbers followed a record low for Democrats in a Quinnipiac University survey in the field in February.
Additionally, the latest Fox News National poll, which was released last week, indicated congressional Democrats’ approval rating at 30%, near an all-time low. And Democrat activists are irate over their party’s inability to blunt President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“State Democrats have been overperforming in specials this year because voters trust them to put working families’ needs above the chaos and dysfunction fueled by Trump and Republicans in Washington,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams in a statement.
In a sign of the local election’s importance, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin stopped by the district last month.
“Sending Dan to Harrisburg isn’t just about what it means for this community,” Martin said in a statement to Fox News. “It sends a signal to Pennsylvanians. It sends a signal to Democrats around the country that we’re willing to fight for our values at every single level.”
While Democrats are favored in the special election, Republicans have also put resources into the race.
“No matter who looks good on paper, you’ve got to have the election,” Pennsylvania House Rep. Jamie Barton, who leads the state House GOP’s campaign arm, told the AP. “We’re not taking anything for granted.”
On the side of Pennsylvania, voters will be heading to the polls to fill a vacant state Senate seat.
GOP state Sen. Ryan Aument stepped down in December to work as state director for newly elected U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a fellow Republican.
Republican Josh Parsons, a Lancaster County commissioner, Democrat James Andrew Malone, the mayor of East Petersburg, and libertarian Zachary Moore are running to succeed Aument in state Senate District 36, a red-leaning seat in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Regardless of the election results, the GOP will continue to control the state Senate, where they currently hold a 27-22 majority.
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