Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai expected to resign before the end of his term, sources say

[alp227]

Source: The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

HARRISBURG — The most powerful Republican in the Pennsylvania House, Mike Turzai, is expected to announce Wednesday he will resign from his post before the end of his final term, according to multiple legislative sources with knowledge of his plans.

Turzai (R., Allegheny), the House speaker, announced in January he would not seek reelection this fall and would instead pursue a job in the private sector. Sources, who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the speaker’s plans, said it’s not clear exactly when Turzai will depart, though he’s expected to outline a timetable Wednesday.

Lawmakers on Tuesday said Turzai told members his family is coming to the Capitol this week for an announcement. In a brief interview, Turzai said he wants to have his family present when he shares some remarks with the House, though he declined to provide more details.

[...]

Several media reports and sources have speculated that Turzai will take an executive position inside Essential Utilities, Inc., a Bryn Mawr-based company that this year acquired Peoples Gas of Pittsburgh. That company was formerly known as Aqua America Inc., a major Turzai donor whose CEO, Chris Franklin, is a close friend of the lawmaker.

Read more: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/06/pa-house-speaker-mike-turzai-expected-to-resign-before-the-end-of-his-term-sources-say.html

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The PA State House has changed majority parties multiple times over the past ~60 years often following national trends.

1959-63: (D) majority, as Democrats made even bigger midterm gains in 1958 than four years earlier and David Lawrence (D) winning the gubernatorial election

1963-65: (R) majority, with Bill Scranton (R) winning the 1962 gubernatorial election

1965-67: (D) majority, owing to LBJ's landslide victory in 1964

1967-69: (R) majority in addition to Ray Shafer (R) winning the 1966 gubernatorial election

1969-73: (D) majority; PA bucked the nation by voting for Humphrey over Nixon.

1973-75: (R) majority; PA went for Nixon in '72 just two years after electing Democrat Milton Shapp as governor.

1975-79: (D) majority. Watergate contributed to Democratic victories in '74, including Governor Shapp's reelection.

1979-83: (R) majority, as Dick Thornburgh (R) won the '78 gubernatorial election in a regionally divided election where western PA was solidly Republican and the east outside Philly solidly Democrat. The inflation and poor economy of '78 led to Republican gains (and a harbinger of 1980).

1983-95: (D) majority; although Thornburgh narrowly won reelection, he couldn't hold on to his house majority as the early 1980s recession led to Democratic gains in the 1982 midterms nationwide.

1995-07: (R) majority after the 1994 "Republican revolution" where Republicans took back Congress and flipped PA's governorship with Tom Ridge.

2007-11: (D) majority; although Republicans maintained their state house majority during Ed Rendell's first term, GW Bush's declining popularity hurt Republicans in down ballot elections. (It didn't help that Rendell's Republican challenger was a political novice; being a football legend doesn't translate to votes especially in a certain part of the state)

2011-present: (R) majority due to Tom Corbett's election and the national Tea Party movement

[Freddie]

1. Good riddance to bad rubbish

[Grokenstein]

2. That'll happen when the water finally touches the rats' feet.

[DeminPennswoods]

3. Turzai's preferred candidate, a very conservative R,

won the GOP primary a week ago. The district is R-friendly, so Turzai knows who his replacement will be.
And, while the PA supreme court invalidated the extremely gerry-mandered congressional districts and replaced them with a fairer map in 2018, the heavily gerry-mandered house and senate districts remain.