Republicans knocked off Democrats in three Pennsylvania House races, flipping two seats, as Rep. Scott Perry, Rob Bresnahan and Brian Mackenzie gave the GOP a chance to retain its majority in the lower chamber.
DeicisionDesk HQ and Newsmax called the races for Perry, Bresnahan and Mackenzie. Perry edged challenger Janelle Stelson 50.8%-49.2%, Bresnahan ousted six-term Rep. Matt Cartwright by a 51%-49% margin, and Mackenzie ousted three-term Rep. Susan Wild by a 50.7%-49.3% margin.
The defeats of Cartwright and Wild came as the GOP's House majority hung in the balance. Democrats are seeking a last line of defense to Donald Trump's second-term White House agenda.
The Republican victories also ensured that the GOP recaptured a majority of the state's congressional delegation since the party lost it in a slate of 2018 defeats.
Bresnahan, a first-time candidate and developer who runs a family construction company, beat Cartwright in a district around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Meanwhile, Mackenzie, a member of the state House, defeated Wild in a district around Allentown.
Both districts hold narrow Democrat registration advantages, but Republicans have heavily funded challengers to Cartwright and Wild for years in hopes of defeating them.
Cartwright was one of just five Democrats nationally to run for re-election in districts won by Trump in 2020, and the region has notably embraced Trump's politics since the president-elect first ran for president in 2016.
Perry, who won a sixth term, defeated a first-time candidate and longtime local TV news anchor in Stelson who was a former Republican.
Perry is a former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and his politics aren't necessarily reflective of the fast-growing district around the cities of Harrisburg and York. Republicans hold a slight registration advantage in the district.
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