Dan Goughnour
The election filled the seat of the late Rep. Matt Gergely, who died in January.
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Democrat Dan Goughnour won a special election March 25 in the Mon Valley to fill the Pennsylvania House seat of the late Rep. Matt Gergely, who died Jan. 19.
The Associated Press declared Goughnour, 39, the winner at 9:22 p.m. as he led Republican nominee Charles Davis with 64% of the vote. The result means Democrats will regain a one-seat majority in the state House of Representatives. The state Senate will remain in Republican control.
estimates95% of votes counted
| Candidate | votes | pct. | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dan Goughnour
Dem
|
6,797 | 63.4% | |
|
Charles Davis
GOP
|
3,751 | 35.0% | |
|
Adam Kitta
Lib
|
166 | 1.6% | |
The 35th district includes Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, Munhall, Liberty, Lincoln, McKeesport, Port Vue, Versailles, West Homestead, Whitaker, White Oak and part of West Mifflin.
Appearing on the ballot were Goughnour of McKeesport, Davis of White Oak and Libertarian Adam Kitta, also of White Oak. Nominees for special elections are chosen by party committee members instead of primary elections.
Gergely reached the state House via a special election in 2023 and was re-elected for a full term last November, running unopposed. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried the district last fall with 57% of the vote, 15 points ahead of President Donald Trump.
The 35th state House district in the Mon Valley
The district includes 97 voting precincts, comprising all or parts of 14 municipalities and about 45,000 registered voters
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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