Tuesday’s midterm election results confirm that politically, Pennsylvania is still a divided state, considered “purple” if using the popular terminology of Democrat blue and Republican red. As is the case nationally, many of the results were not what was expected, but elections always bring some surprises, and Pennsylvania was no exception. Let’s take a look at some details:
Federal races
Pro-Life, Pro-Family Congressmen Re-elected: All of Pennsylvania’s incumbents running for re-election will return to Congress and the open seats remain with the same party as held them before. For the U.S. House, Pennsylvania has 17 Congressional districts, down from 18 after the 2020 census population loss and subsequent redistricting. Party balance remains the same – 9 Democrats and 8 Republicans.
Every Republican member in our state has a pro-life record, notably long-serving pro-life stalwarts like Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Erie) and Rep. GT Thompson (representing 14 counties in our northern tier).
AOC-Backed Democratic Socialist Elected: The Democrat candidate – Summer Lee – who will fill the seat of retiring Congressman Mike Doyle in Pittsburgh won her current PA state House seat as a far left Democrat Socialist and was endorsed for Congress by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC).
Two Pro-Abortion Senators Now Represent PA in U.S. Senate: The nationally watched race for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senator Pat Toomey was won by Democrat Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman over Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz. Fetterman will join Sen. Bob Casey and Pennsylvania will have two Democrat senators.
There was record spending for both candidates as it was considered a swing seat as nationally, the GOP was hoping to win enough seats to take the majority in the U.S. Senate in Washington. As of this writing, there are still two Senate races yet to be decided – Arizona and Nevada.
Of note: Fetterman supports unlimited abortion, paid for by taxpayers and was endorsed by Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. He has said he’d “fight like hell” to pass the so-called Equality Act, which threatens to violate religious freedom and privacy rights. And a top priority of his is to legalize dangerously-high potent marijuana for recreational use.
We will certainly miss Sen. Pat Toomey and do thank him for his years of serving the families of Pennsylvania.
Governor
Democrat Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General for the past two years, defeated Republican Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) for Governor of Pennsylvania. The two couldn’t be farther apart on their positions on core issues affecting the sanctity of human life, parents and schools, and religious liberty; issues on which Mastriano as senator has a pro-family track record.
Shapiro’s victory is bad news for pro-life, pro-family citizens on many fronts, including his support of many of Gov. Wolf’s positions: promising to veto any pro-life legislation; pushing for sexual orientation-gender identity laws; supporting biological males playing women’s sports; and sexually explicit curriculum in classrooms; gender surgery and hormones for minors.
State House and State Senate
House Control up in the air: Going into the election, Republicans held the majority with 113R-90D in the 203-member State House. According to unofficial results today, Republicans and Democrats have each won 100 seats in the House, with three competitive seats in the Southeast too close to call. House Democrats seem confident that they will take the majority — even holding a press conference yesterday claiming as much. But until all the votes are counted, we won’t know for sure either way.
New district lines created by redistricting forced some retirements and made some districts more competitive, especially in the state House. The process for the new maps, created by a five-member commission with the “independent” chair being a registered Democrat, was controversial with House Republicans because for some districts, it moved them to heavily Democrat voting areas.
State Senate with an improved majority: In the state Senate, the Republicans maintain their majority control, holding 28 seats to Democrats’ 22. Redistricting moved one seat from Luzerne County to the Lehigh Valley, which went from the sole Independent (John Yudichak) to Democrat (Nick Miller); and another seat from Centre County (Jake Corman) to Cumberland (Greg Rothman) remained Republican.
The good news is that the PA Senate remains a pro-life majority, strengthened with the election of new pro-life senators Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery, Berks), Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh, Bucks), and Greg Rothman (R-Cumberland). Bottom line: The state Senate will be all the more important because it may need to act as a firewall against any anti-family policies from the PA House.
National Perspective: Challenges Remain After Roe
Abortion-related ballot initiatives on the ballot in five other states were all won by the pro-abortion side. However, despite these results and media reports, most people in Pennsylvania and across America support limits on abortion, even people who may call themselves “pro-choice.” And they oppose using their tax dollars to pay for abortions.
The Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was historic and opened the door to state policies that could help save the life of the unborn in a nation where abortion-on-demand used to be the law of the land for 50 years. States are again the proper forum and the battleground for setting policy on abortion. We know that political and legislative change do not happen overnight. We also know that cultural change is not instant. The sad reality is that several generations have accepted the Roe regime and the lies fed to them by the abortion industry.
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Win or Lose, God Still Reigns. We serve a great God and together, with your support and involvement, we are here for the battles ahead.
At the PA Family Institute, PA Family Council and the Independence Law Center, we have hope for the future. We will continue to work for a Pennsylvania where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished.
