Democrats waging uphill battle for state Legislature

Primary begins effort to end GOP majorities

Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — Though tipping the balance of power in Pennsylvania’s state Legislature this year is a heavy political lift, Democrats are gearing up for a fight to dismantle the commanding majorities Republicans hold in both chambers.

Tuesday’s primary will be the opening act for that effort — though the general election in the fall will be the real test of whether the political controversies engulfing President Donald Trump and the White House will trickle down to affect local races.

Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, put it this way: “All the angst is going to rest in November and not so much here in May.”

Half the seats in the 50-member Senate and all 203 seats in the House are up for grabs this year. And with an unusually high number of retirements in both legislative chambers, particularly among lawmakers in the Philadelphia area, both parties believe it’s anyone’s game.

“I don’t want to throw the ‘M’ word around — ‘majority’ — but with every news cycle where that guy in the White House does something even crazier than before ... a monumental pickup seems more and more a possibility,” Nathan Davidson, executive director of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, said of capturing a significant number of Republican seats.

For Democrats, the ultimate hope is to pick up enough seats in the next two election cycles — this year and 2020 — to have a more prominent voice, if not the upper hand, in shaping maps for congressional and state legislative seats come 2021.

It will be a difficult task. In the House, Republicans have a 119-81 edge over Democrats. There are currently three vacancies in that chamber. In the Senate, the GOP now commands a veto-proof majority: Republicans hold 34 of the 50 seats.

And though the House has flipflopped over the last decade between Democrat and Republican control, the GOP has controlled the Senate for decades.

In the House of Representatives, 28 lawmakers are either retiring —

including longtime state Reps. John Maher of Upper St. Clair and Joe Markosek of Monroeville — or have already left.

The majority of those seats are or were held by Republicans, including several moderate-leaning GOP members from the Philadelphia suburbs whose districts Democrats now believe they can snag. Come November, many of the battleground races will be in that part of the state.

In the Pittsburgh area, Democrats are closely watching two races — each of which pits a newcomer endorsed by the local Democratic Socialists of America against an incumbent who is part of a well-known political family.

State Rep. Dom Costa of Stanton Heights faces a challenge from Sara Innamorato of Lawrenceville, a consultant for nonprofit groups and government agencies. State Rep. Paul Costa of Wilkins faces a challenge from Summer Lee of Swissvale, a law school graduate and former organizer with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

“They certainly are energized and they’re bringing voters out,” said House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont. And the incumbents? “They’re working very hard,” Mr. Dermody said.

North of the city, Democrats also have two candidates vying for the chance to oust state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, one of the most conservative lawmakers in the Capitol whose remarks about immigration, gun control and the LGBT community often spark controversy.

In the Senate, 25 seats are up for re-election. Of those, seven are currently held by Democrats who are all running for re-election without primary challengers, said David Marshall, executive director of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.

The remaining 18 seats are held by Republicans — four of whom are not running for re-election: Sens. Chuck McIlhinney of Bucks County and Stewart Greenleaf of Montgomery County, who are both retiring; Sen. Scott Wagner of York County, who is running for governor; and Sen. John Eichelberger of Blair County, who is running for Congress.

Democrats said they are mounting a challenge in every state Senate district that is up for grabs this year except one — the seat currently held by Sen. Lisa Baker of Luzerne County.

Both parties expect Senate races in the Philadelphia suburbs to be among the most competitive come November. But for next week’s primary, eyes are set on the 38th District in Western Pennsylvania.

That district, which includes part of Pittsburgh and some of its northern suburbs, is currently represented by Randy Vulakovich, R-Shaler, who faces a challenge from Ross Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer.

On the Democratic side, Stephanie Walsh of Highland Park, a consultant whose work focuses on government efficiency, is running against Lindsey Williams of West View, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

“I think this is going to be, as we know, a little textbook case here to see who goes out and votes,” Mr. Scarnati said.