Dems Declare Shock Victory on Hallowed MAGA Turf
KENT NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images Pennsylvania Democrats have claimed a shock victory on hallowed MAGA turf, with a near 30-year GOP stranglehold seemingly broken.
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov.
Josh Shapiro announced on X early on Wednesday morning that Brandon Dukes “just flipped a state House District in Butler County,” as The New York Times, using Associated Press figures, reported that he has edged out Republican Scott Timko by just 88 votes, with more than 95 percent of the votes counted.
Republicans have held Pennsylvania House District 12 for 26 years, since Daryl Metcalfe won the seat in 1998.
“I’m still processing this.
We just flipped a Trump +18 seat, and we flipped a red seat that’s been red for almost 30 years,” Dukes told the Cranberry Eagle newspaper.
“We made history.” The winner will serve the remainder of former Republican state Rep.
Stephenie Scialabba’s term in the district, which covers the southwestern corner of the county, after the 35-year-old announced on March 24 that she was leaving her position at the end of that month to focus on her young son, Teddy.
If Dukes gets over the line, Pennsylvania House Democrats would enjoy a two-seat majority in the chamber until November, when Scialabba leaves, and Dukes and Timko are back on the ballot.
“One election down, one election to go,” Dukes, who works in the commercial construction sector for a national bank and had the endorsement of former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, said Tuesday night.
“Special elections sometimes produce special results,” Timko said, not ready to concede.
Associated Press had not called the race by early Wednesday morning, and Axios noted that “provisional and overseas ballots still need to be counted.” Shapiro noted that the district Dukes is contesting, Scialabba won by 30 points in 2024.
Earlier this year, a blue wave flipped seats in Fort Worth, Texas, and Palm Beach County, Florida.
“I consider myself a canary in the coal mine,” Dukes warned Republicans last week.
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