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.
As someone who is somewhat familiar with that district, this is actually a pretty big deal.