Pa. Dems could control the state with Lancaster County Senate seat

State Sen. James Malone stunned with a special election win in Lancaster County. Now, his reelection could give Pennsylvania Democrats the chance to flip the chamber and control the General Assembly.

Hot off the heels of last month’s municipal and judicial election victories, Democrats in Lancaster County are hopeful that they will hold onto State Sen. James Malone’s rural Lancaster County district. 

Malone became the first Democrat to serve northern Lancaster County in the Pennsylvania Senate in over 130 years when he defeated Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons by less than 500 votes in a special election in March. 

At the time, many saw Malone’s victory as a stunning upset that sent shockwaves throughout the country. In reality, it served as a canary in the coal mine for Republicans.

“ People in Lancaster County are tired of not being served well and not being heard, and when you’re willing to listen to them and you’re willing to work for them, they will invest in you and vote for you,” Malone told The Keystone in an interview. 

“We saw that with my election, we saw that with this last November, and it’s not surprising that we’re seeing that in other states and in other counties in Pennsylvania and across the nation.”

If Malone holds onto the seat in a county where President Donald Trump carried by more than 15 points in the 2024 election, it will become a lot easier for Democrats to flip the Pennsylvania Senate and potentially have a legislative trifecta by controlling the House and Governor’s mansion along with it going into 2027.

Malone, who originally grew up outside of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, served eight years as the mayor of East Petersburg and worked for 26 years as an application developer prior to getting elected to the Pennsylvania Senate. 

“ I grew up in a rural area and it’s very salt of the earth people who are willing to get up and work every single day to try and make their lives better, to try and make sure that themselves and their neighbors can keep moving along. [Those are] beautiful people to be involved with,” Malone said.

On top of holding onto Malone’s seat in 2026, Democrats will need to flip two more in order to control the chamber through a tie-breaking vote. 

Republicans currently hold a 27 to 24 majority, but there are four seats up for election where Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro carried those districts by 4 to 9 percentage points. For context, Shapiro only carried Malone’s district by one point in 2022. 

Stella Sexton, Vice Chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Party and co-chair of Malone’s first campaign, has a simple message for those around the commonwealth, and that’s not to sleep on Lancaster County in next year’s election. 

 ”Josh Shapiro is going to win Lancaster County this year,” Sexton said in an interview.

“Don’t sleep on Lancaster County as a very important part of winning statewide. As Lancaster County gets more purple, our electoral importance increases, and we’re starting to see that momentum when you want to win statewide races.”

Trump won Lancaster County with 57% of the vote in the 2024 election, but that number almost reversed itself to blue when it came to supporting Pennsylvania’s three Democratic supreme court justices who were up for retention in last month’s election. 

All three justices received 53% of the vote in order to serve another 10-year term, while Brandon Nueman and Stella Tsai, who ran for open seats on the Superior and Commonwealth Courts, received 48% of the vote. 

“ I believe that [Malone] will hold this seat, and that it is it’s a path for us to flip the Senate and pass the Democratic agenda in 2027,” Sexton added.