3 special elections in Allegheny County will determine state House majority

Three special elections being held Tuesday in Allegheny County will determine which party has the majority in the state House for the next two years.

Voters who live in the 32nd, 34th and 35th state House districts will elect new legislators. With those seats now empty, Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, with 101 seats to Democrats’ 99.

In the 32nd District, former state Rep. Tony DeLuca was posthumously reelected after dying in October. The district includes Oakmont, Penn Hills, Verona and a section of Plum.

The 34th District includes Pittsburgh’s Homewood and Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Forest Hills, Braddock and other eastern suburbs. Swissvale Democrat Summer Lee was reelected in the district but vacated her seat after being elected to Congress.

In the 35th District, McKeesport Democrat Austin Davis also was reelected but vacated his seat to become Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor. The district includes McKeesport, Homestead, Duquesne, Clairton and other Mon Valley communities.

Democrats hold a significant voter registration advantage in all three districts.

Allegheny County Election Division Manager David Voye said he expects about 20% of registered voters to cast ballots in the special election races. By comparison, turnout was about 61% in Allegheny County’s November election.

About 19% of registered voters in the three districts had applied for mail-in ballots as of Feb. 1, and about half of those ballots already had been returned.

32nd District

DeLuca, a Democrat, served this Allegheny Valley district for nearly 40 years, so whoever succeeds him will have big shoes to fill.

The Democrats have nominated Joe McAndrew, a former executive director of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee and staffer for former House Minority Leader Frank Dermody.

McAndrew grew up in the Harmar and Cheswick area and lives in Penn Hills. He attended the same church as DeLuca and said he hopes to follow in DeLuca’s footsteps.

He told the Tribune-Review that, if elected, he would focus on bringing modern industry with well-paying jobs to the area, along with increased training so workers can gain access to them. He said senior issues and public safety are also top priorities.

Republican Clayton Walker of Verona is an Army veteran and pastor at the Mustard Seed Church. He said he believes that he can bring a new perspective to the district that he hasn’t seen before.

“Being an African American, a lot look at it as being a new opportunity for us to make additional inroads in government that we haven’t had a chance to make previously,” he said.

Walker said his top priorities are election reform, taxes and lowering crime rates.

34th District

In the heavily Democratic district that had been represented by Lee, former police Officer Robert Pagane, a Republican, has his work cut out for him.

Pagane of Wilkins said on his website that his priorities are reducing taxes, especially for seniors; building bridges between the community and police officers; and reducing crime.

Breaking from many other state Republicans, Pagane also is advocating for legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Democrats nominated Abigail Salisbury, who is a Swissvale councilwoman and runs her own law firm. She ran for the seat in the last year’s primary but was defeated by Lee.

Salisbury said her priorities are bringing resources back to the district, supporting entrepreneurs, investing in public education and funding infrastructure that can adapt to climate change.

35th District

Democrat Matthew Gergely is vying to replace Davis in this Mon Valley district.

He has deep ties to the district’s largest city, McKeesport. He lives there and works as the city’s chief revenue officer. He said has experience in funding local improvements and spurring small business growth without raising local taxes, according to his social media.

He said his top priorities are labor rights, easing the property tax burden by funding public schools more fairly and lowering health care costs.

Republican Don Nevills is a Navy veteran and small-business owner. He lives in Clairton and said it is time to be “tough on crime” to increase public safety, according to his Facebook page. Nevills said he also wants to focus on veterans’ issues.

He ran against Davis in the November election and lost by 22 percentage points.

How to vote

People will be able to vote in person from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the 246 polling places in the three state House districts. Only voters who are registered with addresses in one of the three districts will be able to vote.

The county sent letters to some voters who have new polling places and is asking voters to check their polling place location online if they are unsure where to go. If it is a voter’s first time at a polling place, an ID is required.

If voters have applied for a mail-in or absentee ballot, their completed ballots must be returned to the Allegheny County Elections Division by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Voters can return mail-in ballots via the postal service, but officials had encouraged voters to do so at least a week before Election Day to allow time for them to reach the office.

Voters also can return their ballots at the County Office Building at 542 Forbes Ave., Downtown, until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials said mail-in voters should place their mail-in ballots in the secrecy envelope and not mark the secrecy envelope in any way. That envelope should go inside the declaration envelope, which must be signed and correctly dated or the ballots will not be counted.

If voters haven’t applied for a mail-in or absentee ballot yet, they cannot vote by mail in the special elections because the application deadline has already passed.

If voters that have received mail-in ballots wish to vote in person, they should bring their mail-in ballots to their polling place and then request a provisional ballot.

County officials expect all mail-in ballots to be processed by 8 p.m. Tuesday. The vast majority of the remaining in-person ballots should be tabulated later Tuesday night. Results are likely, but not guaranteed, to be called that night.