(The Center Square) – Democrats in Pennsylvania flipped a reliably red seat in the state Senate on Tuesday by less than 500 votes.
East Petersburg Mayor James Malone’s victory over Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons surprised all. In November, President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick won the region by wide margins.
Malone will replace former Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lititz, who resigned earlier this year to serve as McCormick’s state director in Pennsylvania. Aument had been representing the district since 2016, and though its borders had changed slightly throughout the decades due to reapportionment, Republicans have held the seat since the 1970s.
Parsons officially conceded the race to Malone on Wednesday afternoon, saying there were not enough provisional ballots to close the gap.
The Lancaster County Democratic Party celebrated the win in a Facebook post on Wednesday, thanking the volunteers who helped the party “achieve this monumental win.”
“Northern Lancaster County saw what this MAGA movement and Josh Parsons had to offer, and rejected it,” the committee said.
Kirk Radanovic, chairman of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, called the loss “frustrating” and said that Republicans who “sit on their hands or home on election day, elect Democrats.”
“Republicans cannot be complacent,” he said. “Today we start the next campaign, and let Senator-elect Malone know his days are numbered in Harrisburg.”
The Grand Old Party still controls the upper chamber in Harrisburg 27-23 and will continue to play a key role in shaping state policy alongside the Democrat-majority House and governor’s mansion.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, himself, celebrated the win on X on Tuesday evening, saying that voters “rejected a candidate who embraced the extremism and division coming out of DC.”
“In a district carried comfortably by Donald Trump just a few months ago, they chose a better way forward – an embrace of competence, commonsense, and a desire to bring people together,” he said.
