Special elections on primary day will fill two Pa. House seats
Voters in two Pennsylvania House districts will choose representatives next month to fill vacant seats, bringing the chamber to its full complement of 203 lawmakers for the first time in this year’s session.
While the May 16 special elections, coinciding with the primary election, have the potential to erase or bolster the razor-thin Democratic majority in the House, no change in the one-vote margin is likely.
State Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Northumberland, was elected to the state Senate in a special election earlier this year, leaving the 108th Legislative District in north central Pennsylvania open.
The district, which includes Montour County and part of Northumberland County, has been represented by Republicans for at least 50 years. Culver was first elected to the House in 2010.
Rep. Mike Zabel, D-Delaware, resigned last month after at least three women accused him of unwanted advances and inappropriate contact at events outside the Capitol.
The 163rd Legislative District in southeast Delaware County is likely to return to Democratic control. In the 2022 election, Zabel won 65% of the vote in his newly redrawn district and lost in only three of the 48 precincts. Zabel outperformed U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in the top-of-ticket U.S. Senate race.
In 2020, voters in the precincts that now comprise the 163rd District voted for the Democratic House candidates by similar margins.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/special-elections-on-primary-day-will-fill-two-pa-house-seats-meet-the-candidates/
