Democrats hope to pull off upset in Tuesday’s Pa. Senate special election

East Petersburg Mayor James Malone faces long odds in pulling off an upset in a special election for Pennsylvania’s 36th senate district. But Malone’s momentum has Elon Musk and Republicans sounding the alarm. 

Democrats in Lancaster County are hoping to pull off an upset in Tuesday’s special election for the Pennsylvania 36th senate district, where James Malone, the Democratic candidate and mayor of East Petersburg, is running against Josh Parsons, a Republican county commissioner. 

The race has caught the attention of Republicans in Washington D.C. and Elon Musk, the world’s richest billionaire, according to Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-Allegheny). 

“ This is a competitive special election, and it’s one where we’re already seeing Republicans and Independents come in this direction,” Deluzio said in an interview. 

“This is a race that should not be on the map in a normal environment, and yet Democrats are fired up and Independents and Republicans  I think are walking away from some of the corruption from, say, attacks on the VA and Social Security and issues that are happening in Washington, but affect us here in home of Pennsylvania.”

Deluzio continued: “ I think the mayor’s done a great job of firing people up, and he’s put this in play. To see the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, and others in Washington – for the Republicans to be nervous about this seat,  it tells you that this is now a race that’s competitive, that’s up for grabs.”

The 36th senate district was previously held by former State Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster), who resigned following the 2024 election to join US Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-Pa.) staff, and Democrats are putting the effort to make this a close race. 

This is the first time since 2018 that Democrats had a candidate on the ballot in this deep red district.

Lancaster Online reporter Jaxon White has pointed out that Malone and the Democrats are spending just as much money as Parsons. As of last week, Malone had raised over $170,000 for his campaign. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis are pitching in their support by conducting robocalls or canvassing for Malone ahead of Tuesday’s election. 

“We have had multiple times where we have not put anyone [on the ballot] at all, and now we have Republicans calling me, telling me, ‘hey, first off, I’m a Trump supporter a hundred percent. Thank you for running, you’ve got my vote,’” Malone told his supporters on Monday.

“That’s a little weird, but the fact is they see that there’s a problem and we’re hoping to get in and fix it.”