Summary
Democrat James Malone won a special election for Pennsylvania’s 36th state Senate district, flipping a seat previously held by Republicans in a district Trump won by 15 points.
Malone narrowly defeated Republican Josh Parsons by less than 500 votes, running on opposition to Elon Musk’s influence in the Trump administration.
Governor Josh Shapiro praised the victory as a rejection of extremism.
The win reduces the GOP majority in the state Senate to 27-23 and signals potential Democratic competitiveness in upcoming elections.
Dems have switched to high propensity voters. The people who consistently turn out tend to be dems, the people who only sometimes turn out tend to be republicans. This means that special elections with low turnout favour dems.
(This is notable because before Trump came about it was the opposite pattern)