Stunner in Lancaster as Malone defeats Parsons for 36th Senate seat
In a stunning outcome, Democrat James Andrew Malone defeated Republican Josh Parsons to win the 36th Senatorial District seat in Harrisburg.
President Donald Trump rolled to a +15 victory in the district back in November, but northern Lancaster County voters made a statement heard ’round the Keystone State on Tuesday.
The district has only had four representatives since 1983 – all Republican – Noah Wenger, Philip Price, Mike Brubakerand Ryan Aument. And the closest race since 2000 was a 23,000-vote victory for Brubaker in 2006.
Aument resigned the seat to become U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s state director.
Malone, mayor of the borough of East Petersburg, defeated Parsons, the chair of the Lancaster County commissioners, by 482 votes or 0.89 percent. Malone received 26,951 votes to 26,469 for Parsons.
“I’m very excited and really, really happy that all the work we put in has paid off,” Malone told WGAL-TV. “Everyday voters are not liking what they’re seeing at the federal level, they don’t like the chaos. We want to be sure that we, as Pennsylvania, are standing up for our neighbors and are standing up for our state. And, brotherly love is Pennsylvania, and that just proved out. Kindness over criticism, right? So that’s what we’re trying to do, and I think that that really is what we’re looking at moving forward.”
Parsons expressed his disappointment in a tweet, saying that he would have more to say on the outcome on Wednesday.
“Tonight in Lancaster County, Pennsylvanians rejected a candidate who embraced the extremism and division coming out of DC,” tweeted Gov. Josh Shapiro. “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. Congratulations @MaloneForSenate. Looking forward to working with you in Harrisburg to continue delivering results and getting stuff done for all Pennsylvanians.”
Twenty-nine percent of nearly 185,000 registered voters cast ballots in the special election to fill out Aument’s term. Malone’s strength in no-excuse mail balloting gave him a 5,300 vote advantage that he was able to maintain throughout Election Day.
“This is a referendum on the chaos Washington Republicans have brought to our state and the silence and inaction Harrisburg Republicans have responded with,” said Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia). “Voters are fed up, and they showed up tonight in Lancaster. Mayor Malone is the leader we need right now. Through this campaign, he has been thoughtful, listened to his neighbors and is ready to deliver on the promise of rational governance. Congratulations to the Mayor, his team, and the Lancaster County Democrats who worked so hard to share the importance of this race.”
Malone’s apparent victory capped a 2-for-2 day for Democrats, as the party retained its one-seat majority in the state House as Dan Goughnour won a convincing victory in the 35th Legislative District (Allegheny County).
“It’s only March, and Democrats have defied the odds again with another upset victory in Republican territory,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams. “Democrats are on a roll in state legislative races in 2025, from flipping red seats to defending one-seat majorities, which should put Republicans on edge. Both wins affirm Democratic leadership in a moment when GOP power is synonymous with chaos. While we celebrate our victories tonight, control of the Pennsylvania House still hinges on a single seat. As the only organization dedicated to building Democratic power in state legislatures, the DLCC is ready to keep up the fight – especially in special elections as we gear up for competitive races in 2025 and 2026.”
“Congratulations to Senator-elect James Malone on his shocking, historic special election victory in Senate District 36,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin. “In a district that went to Trump by 15 in 2024 and has a 23-point Republican voter registration advantage, Malone’s victory is a loud and clear rebuke to Republicans’ threats to the programs Pennsylvania families rely on – from Social Security and Medicaid to our public schools. To protect working Americans, Democrats like Senator-elect Malone are competing everywhere, and in special elections throughout the country, we continue to overperform as voters join us in fighting back against the Trump-Musk agenda. This is a shockwave to the system and the way Republicans have run our government. Republicans everywhere should be afraid.”
Updated with comments from Malone, Parsons and Martin
Steve Ulrich is the managing editor of PoliticsPA
This is what happens when you ignore election rigging.
Josh Shapiro is not a legitimate governor and this guy did not win this election.
Cause of America
Steve Stern Election Integrity calls
Both on Rumble.
Must be very comforting to never be at fault and never have anything legitimately go wrong.
https://rumble.com/v6qw9rc-integrity-in-action-call-with-steve-stern-and-raj-doraisamy-monday-march-20.html
Listen to experts/informed. MAGA candidate Rocky Rochford (1:40:14) lost FL race. Plenty of fraud. U.S. House committee RUN BY REPUBS is doing NOTHING.
But you think the tyrants didn’t rig this & we lost in Lancaster due to “poor turnout.”
I’m not surprised that the PA dem bigwigs are overjoyed and downright giddy about this ‘win’, but being a statement as to a part of Lancaster county electorate is angry with Trump and Washington is really a stretch, given a total turnout of 52,000 votes (29% of registered voters), and the democrat won by less than 1 % point. More likely republicans didn’t care about an off schedule special vote and stayed home. I can see how PA Democrat politicians would be desperate for any morsal of good news, given their trouncing in 2024 and absolute hemorrhaging in national poll approvals. Looks like they “totally redeemed themselves!”
What is wrong with people, Don’t they want to be Safe from terrorism in and be financially secure wnd have our childrens future secure. They actually believe Democrats have made our lives better. Unbelievable. Are they Americans, What Country are they rooting for?
Haven’t listened to his show for a few months, but Dom Giordano’s position about Republicans needing to embrace mail-in ballots was correct. And I was completely wrong. Unless mail-in voting gets reformed, Republicans need to work hard at getting every mail-in ballot they can for each election… or they will be defeated by Democrats in every race. Once you have enough evidence, such as this result for this election, adjusting for reality is required. Repeating the same behavior but expecting different results is a definition of insanity.
Either that, or eliminated completely.
Absolutely not. What needs to change is listening to the “too big to rig we can outvote the cheaters” lie by the do nothing RNC establishment pretending to oppose Josh Shapiro and the rest of the communist con artist Democrats.
Here’s the reality. If you believe 17% of Republican mail-ins (33% if you add independents) voted for the Democrat since Josh Parsons was too “extreme,” I have some waterfront property in FL to sell you sight unseen…
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https://x.com/Woodshed2012/status/1905066195209924766
“I think I’ve heard about every excuse imaginable today as to why @Josh__Parsons
lost the PA senate race. My favorites are “Republicans didn’t show up” and “Democrats beat ‘us’ at mail ballots, again.”
I’m a data gal, so let’s look at the actual data 📈
Total mail ballots returned: 12,589
Breakdown as follows:
🔴 R – 3,547
🔵 D – 8,869
⚫️ Other – 173
Amazingly, no provisionals or write-ins.
Yet, the breakdown by party registration for each of those returned ballots is as follows:
🔴 R – 4,290
🔵 D – 7,033
⚫️ Other – 1,270
What does this mean? 17% of all Republicans that returned a mail ballot had to vote for the Democrat.
When you factor in third party registrations, that number jumps to a whopping 33%.
In other words, A THIRD of all 🔴 & ⚫️ jumped ship from their party for the Democrat candidate.
Of course Shapiro would have you believe that is entirely logical. The Republican candidate is too ‘extreme’, he says. That narrative is becoming all too tired & repetitive.
The list of cancelled mail ballots tells an even more interesting tale for me.
Bottom line:
NO—Republicans did, in fact, sufficiently turn out in line with historic trends.
NO—Republicans did not lose to Democrat mail ballots. Republicans flipped. Third party voters flipped. The margin of votes by Republican voters was MORE than enough for Parsons to win handedly.
Now ask yourself why that is. Was the Democrat candidate just that appealing in a ruby red, ultra conservative district that hasn’t had a Democrat senator for well over 100 years? The same district that Trump took mere months ago by 15 points? With Rasmussen reporting a 26% approval rating for the Democrat Party nationwide?
Be careful who you listen to.”
Phil Price represented the 36th Senate district from 1978 to 1982 when it was in Philadelphia . He beat a Democrat , Tom McCormick
in 1978 , because the black Democrat ward leaders (eg. John White ) supported Price as did the liberals in Chestnut Hill
over the Rizzocrat McCormick , who later was a Phila. Municipal Court judge .
https://x.com/Woodshed2012/status/1905066195209924766
I think I’ve heard about every excuse imaginable today as to why @Josh__Parsons
lost the PA senate race. My favorites are “Republicans didn’t show up” and “Democrats beat ‘us’ at mail ballots, again.”
I’m a data gal, so let’s look at the actual data 📈
Total mail ballots returned: 12,589
Breakdown as follows:
🔴 R – 3,547
🔵 D – 8,869
⚫️ Other – 173
Amazingly, no provisionals or write-ins.
Yet, the breakdown by party registration for each of those returned ballots is as follows:
🔴 R – 4,290
🔵 D – 7,033
⚫️ Other – 1,270
What does this mean?
17% of all Republicans that returned a mail ballot had to vote for the Democrat.
When you factor in third party registrations, that number jumps to a whopping 33%.
In other words, A THIRD of all 🔴 & ⚫️ jumped ship from their party for the Democrat candidate.
Of course Shapiro would have you believe that is entirely logical. The Republican candidate is too ‘extreme’, he says. That narrative is becoming all too tired & repetitive.
The list of cancelled mail ballots tells an even more interesting tale for me.
Bottom line:
NO—Republicans did, in fact, sufficiently turn out in line with historic trends.
NO—Republicans did not lose to Democrat mail ballots. Republicans flipped. Third party voters flipped. The margin of votes by Republican voters was MORE than enough for Parsons to win handedly.
Now ask yourself why that is. Was the Democrat candidate just that appealing in a ruby red, ultra conservative district that hasn’t had a Democrat senator for well over 100 years? The same district that Trump took mere months ago by 15 points? With Rasmussen reporting a 26% approval rating for the Democrat Party nationwide?”