The voters of New York and Pennsylvania delivered Democrats two pre-Valentine’s Day wins on Tuesday, with both elections having national consequences.
The victories were built with a swing of suburban votes, in Long Island’s Nassau County and in the Philadelphia suburb of Bucks County.
Representative-elect Tom Suozzi flipped the congressional seat vacated when the House voted to expel indicted Republican George Santos.
Suozzi won by a significant margin, saying on Election Night: “This race was fought amidst a closely divided electorate, much like the whole country.”
Suozzi confronted Republicans with their flip-flop on border security, in which Donald Trump ordered the House Republicans to reject a bipartisan Senate-crafted compromise on immigration policy.
“It’s time to find common ground and start delivering for the American people,” he said, speaking to the dysfunction of the “people’s house.”
His win leaves the House lineup at 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats: House Speaker Mike Johnson can lose only two votes when the yeas and nays are called on the House floor. Given the bitter infighting in the Republican caucus, the Suozzi win boosts chances that Democrats will retake House control in November.
In a special election in Pennsylvania, the victory of Jim Prokopiak secures Democrats’ 102–100 edge in the lower house of the state Legislature. A major battle for control of the Pennsylvania Senate is shaping up this fall. A longtime Republican gerrymander in the Keystone State has only recently been broken.
The implications of Suozzi’s win can be felt in both Washingtons.
Representative Suzan DelBene chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which invested an estimated $10 million in the race.
She gracefully gave tribute to the candidate, saying in a statement: “Tom Suozzi ran a formidable campaign that prioritized issues that matter most to families across Queens and Nassau County, protecting reproductive freedom, bipartisan solutions to protect border security and lowering costs. In Tom, voters will once again have a representative they can trust.”
As is his custom, Trump blamed somebody else for his party’s latest loss. He described Republican nominee Mazi Filip as a “very foolish woman” while declaring on social media: “MAGA, which is most of the Republican Party, stayed home – and it always will, unless it is treated with the respect that it deserves.” (Meanwhile, ultra MAGA House Speaker Johnson of Louisiana blamed Mother Nature for dumping snow on Long Island.)
Washington lawmakers will be big winners if Democrats recapture control of the House this fall. Representative Adam Smith will again chair the House Armed Services Committee. Smith teamed with military brass in 2020 to thwart the Trump administration’s efforts to politicize the Pentagon.
Representative Rick Larsen, a twenty-year House veteran, is in line to chair the House Transportation Committee, a post previously held by Peter DeFazio.
And, as DCCC chair, DelBene is part of the Democrats’ House leadership. She and Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D‑Wash., are also memberships of the leadership team for the leadership of the center-left New Democrat Coalition.
Elections have consequences. With Democrats in the majority, DelBene can push for her longtime goal of extending the child tax credit.
Representative Kim Schrier, a pediatrician, can press to put a cap on insulin costs for all diabetes patients, not just senior citizens.
A Democrat-run House of Representatives would also be far more likely to pass the Wild Olympics bill and protect an additional 126,000 acres of wilderness in the Evergreen State — a cherished goal of retiring Representative Derek Kilmer’s.
As well, it helps to have a good villain. Julie Chavez, manager of the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, said of the Tuesday wins: “When Republicans run on Trump’s extreme agenda – even in a Republican-held seat – the voters reject them. Donald Trump continues to be a huge weight against Republican candidates.”
