Bryan Cutler, the leader of Pennsylvania's House Republicans, announced Thursday that he was purportedly scheduling the special elections for two vacant Democratic-held state House seats, the 34th and 35th Districts, for May 16, a move that comes a week after Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton set them for Feb. 7. McClinton argues she has the authority to do this because her party won 102 of the 203 seats on Nov. 8, while Cutler says he’s in charge because the GOP will have more members when the new legislature meets Jan. 3 because of those vacancies.
A third seat, the 32nd District, is also vacant, but the dueling leaders both said it should be filled on Feb. 7; however, they each dispute that the other has the authority to actually schedule the contest. Both the Department of State (which is run by an appointee of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf) and election officials in Allegheny County—where all three seats are located—have scheduled all three races for Feb. 7.
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Republicans filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block McClinton’s chosen dates, and the verdict could have serious consequences even if Democrats end up holding all three of these constituencies. The New York Times’ Campbell Robertson writes that Democrats are afraid that if the GOP gets control of the speakership next month, they’d rewrite the rules to keep it—even if Democrats prevail in all three special elections; Cutler, in the words of Robertson, insisted that “such speculation was premature,” which is anything but a denial of his intentions.
And as pointed out by Pennsylvania election law attorney Adam Bonin, who works with state Democrats, a Republican House would have the chance to place an anti-abortion constitutional amendment before voters during the May 2023 primary. This measure would amend the state’s governing document to say, “This constitution does not grant the right to taxpayer-funded abortion or any other right relating to abortion.”
The GOP is also looking to advance other amendments to require voter ID and to enhance the legislature’s power. State law requires both chambers to pass a proposed amendment during two successive sessions of the legislature with an election in between before it can get on the ballot. The GOP already began the process with a vote in favor of these amendments following the 2020 elections, but if the state House can’t pass them a second time, Republicans (who currently run the state Senate) would need to wait until they hold both chambers again before starting the process once more from scratch.
What better way to wrap up the year than by previewing the biggest contests of 2023 on this week's episode of The Downballot? Progressives will want to focus on a Jan. 10 special election for the Virginia state Senate that would allow them to expand their skinny majority; the April 4 battle for the Wisconsin Supreme Court that could let progressives take control from conservatives; Chicago's mayoral race; gubernatorial contests in Kentucky and Louisiana; and much, much more.
