Global Courant 2023-05-17 08:15:11
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Democrats maintained their slim majority in the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday by winning a special election to continue control over how the chamber will deal with abortion, gun rights and election laws.
Heather Boyd won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the Philadelphia suburbs, defeating Republican Katie Ford to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel left 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 Democratic Gov. first term Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to support his agenda in the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment restricting the right to abortion that puts legislative Republicans just one vote away from putting it to voters as a referendum.
Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative assistant. Her district was once Republican, but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections.
Reflecting the commitment, President Joe Biden on Monday endorsed fellow Democrat Boyd, calling her “an experienced public servant who will protect a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, champion commonsense gun safety laws and expand access to the right to vote.” ”
Boyd stressed the protection of abortion rights, contrasting Ford, who personally opposes abortion but says she does not want to change existing state law. Republicans had hoped to regain the majority, in part, to pass the proposed constitutional amendment that says the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee rights related to abortion or public funding of abortions.
Ford criticized Boyd, who has been a leading Democratic Party official in Delaware County, for stepping back when she learned of the accusations against Zabel. Boyd said she respected the lobbyist’s request for confidentiality about her claim that Zabel stroked her leg as they discussed legislation outside the Capitol in 2018 and didn’t stop when she left him.
“Common sense says that if someone comes to you and says they are being sexually harassed, you do something about it,” Ford said during a televised debate. “You don’t just let it go.” Boyd responded that she did not endorse or support Zabel after hearing the lobbyist’s story, and says she tried unsuccessfully to find someone to act against Zabel.
Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 lead in the state House, but Democrats toppled a net of 12 seats in November, barely enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of them to speak .
In a second House special election on Tuesday, Republican Michael Stender retained his party’s central Pennsylvania seat.
Stender, a Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, was endorsed by former Representative Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a Senate special election earlier this year. Stender defeated Democrat Trevor Finn, a Montour County commissioner. The district also includes part of Northumberland County.
