President Donald Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania (50.4%) in the 2024 presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris and flipped the state from blue to red. It was the largest margin of victory for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 (George H.W. Bush) and “is seen to have contributed to down-ballot victories for Republicans who won the races for the US Senate, Attorney General, Treasurer and Auditor General.
Two months after Trump’s return to the White House in January, Pennsylvania Democrats are celebrating a victory after pulling off an upset in a special election to fill a State Senate seat. (Republican state senator Ryan Aument resigned in December 2024 to become State Director for newly elected U.S. Senator Dave McCormick.) On Tuesday night, Democrat James Malone won the seat by 482 votes against Republican County Commissioner Josh Parsons.
James Malone just flipped a Pennsylvania State Senate district that went for Trump by 15 points last year.
This is what building Democratic power looks like. Congratulations, Senator-elect Malone! pic.twitter.com/2KD9WrHNFh
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) March 26, 2025
Malone, the former mayor of East Petersburg, PA, said: “Everyday voters are not liking what they’re seeing at the federal level, they don’t like the chaos. We want to be sure that we, as Pennsylvania, are standing up for our neighbors and are standing up for our state.”
Heather Williams, president of the Democratic legislative campaign committee, said in a statement, “Democrats are on a roll in state legislative races in 2025, from flipping red seats to defending one-seat majorities, which should put Republicans on edge. Both wins affirm Democratic leadership in a moment when GOP power is synonymous with chaos.”
Parsons acknowledged Tuesday night on X that “it appears we will come up a little short.”
Obviously we are disappointed in the numbers. We are still reviewing them, but it appears we will come up a little short. We will have a further statement tomorrow. We appreciate all those who worked hard, supported our campaign, and came out to vote today.
— Josh Parsons (@Josh__Parsons) March 26, 2025
MAGA voter registration advocate Scott Presler — wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap — canvased for Parsons in Pennsylvania, as seen below. Presler reported on X on January 27: “Republicans are 189,109 voters away from flipping Pennsylvania. If you take out inactive voters, that number is 109,591. (In 2012, the advantage was 1,135,173.)”
Thank you @ScottPresler! https://t.co/YrOTpokRLb
— Josh Parsons (@Josh__Parsons) March 10, 2025