2022 General Election Recap & Industry Impact
As of November 13, 2022 the votes from the General Election continue to be counted in Pennsylvania and some other states across the country. Below is a breakdown of what is clear at this point and what remains unclear.
Determined
— Governor: Josh Shapiro will be the 48th Governor of Pennsylvania.
— State Senate: Half of the state Senate was up for reelection. The chamber will remain controlled by the Republicans (28 to 22 majority).
In the state Senate, caucus leadership elections will be held in the near future. It appears Senator Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) is favored to take the President Pro Tempore spot being vacated by the retiring Jake Corman.
All other posts are up for grabs.
— U.S. Senator: John Fetterman will be the next US Senator from Pennsylvania. He will replace Senator Pat Toomey’s Republican seat will go down as one of the key races that allowed Democrats to retain control of the US Senate.
— The PPA would like to congratulate Jamie Barton (Jack Rich Inc.) who is a member of the association and currently sits on our Board of Directors for being elected to serve in the 124th legislative district within the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. More on Jamie’s victory can be found here.
Undetermined
— State House: In the state House, the Democrats are within one vote of taking control of that chamber.
The election count continues in the district currently held by Rep Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery). Stephens is leading by 26 votes-but there are a large number of provisional and military ballots still not counted.
House Democrats held a press conference on Wednesday declaring they had the votes to take control when the House reorganizes on January 3rd.
The Republicans have not agreed with that assessment pointing to the incomplete ballot counts still in play.
Further complicating the situation is that the Democratic total includes three seats that ultimately would need to be filled by special elections.
Those are ones currently held by: Austin Davis (who will be resigning to become Lieutenant Governor), Summer Lee (who will be resigning to take the PA-12 Congressional seat), and Tony DeLuca (passed away a couple weeks prior to the election-but voters overwhelmingly voted for him on Election Day).
If the Republicans do not prevail in the final Election Day counts, the timing of the resignations of Davis and Lee come into play.
It is the sitting Speaker who determines the date of the special elections. Presumably, a Republican speaker would delay these elections and the Democrats would be directing them to be held sooner.
This situation is stunning to most political observers. If successful, the Democrats will have picked up a net gain of 12 House seats which is a shocking result.
Due to the complexities of the state House situation, those caucus elections are unclear.
To be appointed in December are committee majority/minority chairs in both state chambers. These officials are critical deciders as to what legislation does or does not move.
If the Democrats take majority control of the House it will be a dramatic change to how things have been for the last twelve years under Republican control.
Even though the Senate will be Republican, Governor Shapiro will have much more leverage with the House in Democratic hands in terms of the state budget and the issues on his agenda.
For example, various climate change bills that had been buried by Republicans in Committee would be more likely to be taken up in this scenario.
PPA will keep its members informed as to the election results and committee appointments as events unfold.
— U.S. House of Representatives still remains undecided. As of Sunday morning, 20 races for the U.S. House of Representatives were uncalled, with either political party within the means to take control of the 435-member House.
The current tally has Republicans leading with 211 seats. Democrats are lagging behind at 204 of the 218 needed to gain control of the House, but ballots are still being counted in multiple states.
