Democrat James Malone is projected to win a special election for the state Senate in Pennsylvania in a district that President Donald Trump won by 15 points in November.
As of late Tuesday, the race was too close to call. With 99 percent of the estimated vote counted, Malone led his Republican opponent Josh Parsons by less than 500 votes, according to returns posted by the Pennsylvania Secretary of State.
However, Democrats declared victory, with Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, congratulating Malone on his “shocking, historic special election victory in Senate District 36.”
“In a district that went to Trump by 15 in 2024 and has a 23-point Republican voter registration advantage, Malone’s victory is a loud and clear rebuke to Republicans‘ threats to the programs Pennsylvania families rely on – from Social Security and Medicaid to our public schools,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Parsons wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “disappointed in the numbers” and that “it appears we will come up a little short.”
The candidates were running to fill a vacancy in northern Lancaster County after state Senator Ryan Aument, a Republican, quit to take a job working for U.S. Senator Dave McCormick.
No matter the result, the state Senate will remain comfortably in Republican control. But the outcome could be a major upset for Republicans, after Trump received 57 percent of the district’s vote in November’s presidential election.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.