The entire Trump era has been full of hot special election action, and the pace isn’t letting up. One key red-to-blue opportunity is right around the corner: a special election for a GOP-held seat in the Pennsylvania state House on Tuesday, May 15—and we need to get in gear.
Pennsylvania House District 178 has been in Republican hands for at least 15 years, but Democrats have a major opportunity to pick up this seat, and Daily Kos is pleased to endorse Democrat Helen Tai in this key race.
Even though Pennsylvania’s a swing state, Democrats face a big hole in the state House—they’d need to win 21 seats in this fall in order to undo the GOP’s 120-81 majority (which, like their congressional advantage, also is due to an extreme gerrymander). But Democrats everywhere are as energized as we’ve ever seen, and Republicans are in the dumps: No fewer than 18 are retiring from the Pennsylvania House this year. They know what’s coming.
And HD-178 is the perfect place to start making them feel the pain. While this suburban Philadelphia district voted 56-43 for Mitt Romney, it reacted very harshly toward Donald Trump and only gave him a narrow 50-47 win. All cycle long, we’ve seen seats on the precipice like this one finally tilt the rest of the way and go blue.
Tai, a local elected official and progressive activist, is the right candidate to make that happen. She’s served on the Solebury Township board of supervisors for the past five years, and in that time, she’s been a steadfast advocate for environmental protections, fighting efforts by developers and other parties to pollute waterways and build irresponsibly.
Tai is also the daughter of Chinese immigrants, and she’s active locally on countless issues, including gun safety, health care, and climate change. She’s been lobbying state lawmakers on these issues for years, and she’s eager to fight for these causes as a member of the Pennsylvania state House.
Tai’s Republican opponent, a local school board member, has been endorsed by the former occupant of HD-178, but—perhaps an indicator of the level of damage the GOP brand has suffered in the Philadelphia suburbs—her website curiously makes no mention whatsoever of her party affiliation.
This special election represents Democrats’ first opportunity to flip a statehouse seat in Pennsylvania since Trump was elected. A pickup here would be a strong indication that there will be more to come—and if we work hard to make 2018 the wave year we want it to be, then even the Pennsylvania House could change hands.
So contribute $3 today to turn a red seat blue and elect Helen Tai to the Pennsylvania House!