Deceased Democrat Wins Reelection in PA Race
(TheRedWire.com) – Sometimes, the strangest things happen in an election. On Tuesday, November 8, voters showed up at the polls and voted for a state representative who died a month ago. Voters overwhelmingly re-elected incumbent Pennsylvania State Representative Anthony “Tony” DeLuca. On October 9, the 85-year-old died of lymphoma, but it was too late for election officials to change the ballot.
Still, the deceased longtime Democratic representative garnered over 85% of the votes. First elected to a deep blue district in 1983 until his death, DeLuca was the most tenured member of the Pennsylvania statehouse. The 32nd legislative district covered several suburbs of east Pittsburgh.
Dead man wins reelection to Pennsylvania state house.
Anthony “Tony” DeLuca ended up winning more than 85% of the vote. He represented the deep blue district from 1983 until his death and was the longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania state house. https://t.co/KGU5qDOlUq
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) November 9, 2022
DeLuca was so popular in the deep blue district that the GOP didn’t mount a candidacy against him. The only other candidate in the race was Green Party nominee Queonia Livingston, who garnered 14% of the total vote.
The Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee said the sudden loss saddened them. However, they said they were proud to witness voters show confidence in DeLuca’s Democratic values by re-electing him posthumously.
It’s not the first time voters elected a dead person. In 2018, constituents cast ballots for a winning candidate who died in Nevada. In 2000, Democrat Mel Carnahan (D-MO) beat incumbent GOP Rep. Josh Ashcraft (R-MO) even though he had passed away three weeks earlier in a plane crash.
Pennsylvania will hold a special election at an unspecified date.
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