Democrats appeared to pull off an upset in a special election to fill a Pennsylvania state Senate seat on Tuesday night, the latest in a string of victories for the party in off-year, down-ballot races.
Democrat James Malone led Republican County Commissioner Josh Parsons by nearly 500 votes, with virtually all ballots counted, in an area President Donald Trump carried by double digits just a few months ago. Parsons acknowledged on X that “it appears we will come up a little short,” though the Associated Press had not yet called the race as of Wednesday morning.
Democratic state legislative candidates have now outperformed Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential run in nearly a dozen special elections since January, in some cases by double digits in Republican strongholds.
“Every district is up for grabs when Republicans are using their power to cut our essential services to give themselves a tax cut,” Malone said. “We flipped this seat by listening to what our community needs and cares about. We can do the same thing anywhere.”
Malone’s victory comes two months after Democrat Mike Zimmer flipped a state-level district in Iowa that Trump won by more than 20 percentage points. Moderate candidates running on increasing funding for public education and lowering daily expenses like childcare costs have done especially well in Iowa and now Pennsylvania.
“When Mike Zimmer flipped that seat in Iowa, we were in contact with his team the next morning to learn how they did it, and we basically used that playbook and adapted it to our area,” said Stella Sexton, Malone’s campaign manager.
Democrats have routinely over performed in special elections, winning a few ahead of the 2024 presidential race — as well as over performing in the 2022 midterms — neither of which translated to success at the top of the ticket. Still, Democrats pointed to Malone’s victory as motivation heading into next week’s races in Florida and Wisconsin.
“Democrats like Senator-elect Malone are competing everywhere, and in special elections throughout the country, we continue to overperform as voters join us in fighting back against the Trump-Musk agenda,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “This is a shockwave to the system and the way Republicans have run our government. Republicans everywhere should be afraid.”
In another Pennsylvania race on Tuesday, Democrats reclaimed their state House majority, which was deadlocked following the death of a member. That race marks the fifth time in 2025 alone that the party has won an election which decided the outcome of a legislative chamber, though they had been expected to win most of those races.
“Both wins affirm Democratic leadership in a moment when GOP power is synonymous with chaos,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams.
While the wins marked a success for Democrats, the party is still grappling with enormous challenges in Washington. Locked out of power and with increasing infighting between its top leaders, the party has struggled to find its step as Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk overhaul the federal government.
In battleground Pennsylvania, Republicans still easily hold the majority in the state Senate, and the split chambers will leave Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro forced to cross the aisle and make some deals.
Shapiro, who narrowly won the district in 2022, campaigned for Malone, recording a robocall to help get out the vote on Tuesday, where he told voters “the best action right now” to push back during this political moment “is to go to the polls and vote.”
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
