HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democrats maintained their narrow majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday by winning a special election, and along with it, they continued to control how the house will handle abortion, gun rights and election law.
Heather Boyd won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing suburban Philadelphia, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel resigned from the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her.
Boyd’s victory gives Democrats 102 seats, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-member House. The state Senate has a Republican majority.
The Democrats’ victory in the Delaware County district means first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to help his agenda heading into the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment limiting abortion rights that Republican lawmakers are one House vote away from placing before voters as a referendum.
Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative aide. His district was once Republican, but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections.
Reflecting the stakes, President Joe Biden endorsed his fellow Democrat Boyd on Monday, calling her “an experienced public servant who will protect women’s right to make their own health care decisions, defend gun safety laws in common sense and will expand access to voting rights. ”
Boyd stressed protecting the right to abortion, contrasting with Ford, who is personally against abortion but says he did not want to change existing state law. Republicans had hoped to regain the majority, in part, to advance a proposed constitutional amendment saying the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee any rights related to abortion or public funding of abortions.
Ford criticized Boyd, who has been a prominent Democratic Party official in Delaware County, for not doing more in response when he learned of the allegations against Zabel. Boyd said she respected the lobbyist’s request for confidentiality about her claim that Zabel fondled her leg while they were discussing legislation outside the Capitol in 2018 and didn’t stop when she walked away from him.
“Common sense says that if someone comes to you and says they’re being sexually harassed, you should do something about it,” Ford said during a televised debate. “You don’t let go.” Boyd responded that he did not endorse or support Zabel after learning of the lobbyist’s account, and says that he tried unsuccessfully to find someone to run against Zabel.
Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 lead in the state House, but Democrats won a net of 12 seats in November, just enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of yours as president.
In a second House special election on Tuesday, Republican Michael Stender kept his party’s central Pennsylvania seat.
A Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, Stender received the endorsement of former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a special election to the state Senate earlier this year. Stender defeated Democrat Trevor Finn, Montour County Commissioner. The district also includes part of the county of Northumberland.