‘Political earthquake’ in Western Pennsylvania as Democrats flip deep-red district in special election
2026-08-21 02:14 UTC
Pennsylvania Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, are pointing to a stunning upset in a special election for a deep-red state House district as proof that the party has momentum while campaigning this fall for a trifecta in Harrisburg.
Butler County Democrat Brandon Dukes said his apparent victory over Republican Scott Timko, by fewer than 100 votes as of Wednesday afternoon, was thanks to his focus on local issues, such as a major corridor perennially under construction to the frustration of residents.
“We kept it local, we kept it practical, and we kept it common sense,” Dukes said in an interview.
The 12th Pennsylvania House District, just north of Pittsburgh, went for Donald Trump by more than 18 percentage points just two years ago and had been held by Republicans since 1999.
Replies (4)
-
@Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 2026-08-21 02:20
Gas is like 5 dollars. This is the pendulum swinging back. Its just swung hard enough this time to flip unusual places. You can’t really hide all this incompetence. We’ll see, the ol’ pedos are still acting like there is no consequences for their actions.
-
@SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world 2026-08-21 03:34
88 votes Remember that the next time someone says their vote doesn’t matter.
-
@AmidFuror@fedia.io 2026-08-21 04:25
Not as many anti-Democrat comments as I expected, given the topic was something going well for them. I'll check back tomorrow.
-
@VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2026-08-21 04:54
Pennsylvania is ridiculous. So close to very liberal states like NY, DE and NJ. Philadelphia is so fucking blue. But then the rest of PA is just wild and nicknamed Pennsyltucky. Would be nice to keep it blue.