Democrats held a slim one-seat majority in the state House. Now, they hold a slim one-seat minority.
But thanks to new rules enacted last year, Republicans won’t be calling the shots any time soon.
Reps. Donna Bullock and Stephen Kinsey, D-Philadelphia, are leaving the statehouse, changing the makeup to 100 Democrats and 101 Republicans.
Bullock is leaving to head Project Home, a non-profit seeking to end poverty and homelessness in Philadelphia. She was first elected to the House in 2015.
Kinsey, who has served since 2013, announced his departure in January. He has an MBA in health administration and said he hopes to provide healthcare to those who need it most.
Each represented districts that have elected Democrats since the 1960s.
Additionally, each chaired the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus at one point.
The Democrats still technically are the majority party despite not having the greater number of members.
Rules adopted July 7, 2023, state the majority party “shall mean the political party that won the greater number of elections for the 203 seats in the House of Representatives in the general election preceding the term of service that began on the first day of December next after the general election.”
The rules were adopted on July 19, 2023, several days before the resignation of Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny. She left to run for the Democratic nomination for Allegheny County Executive.
Democrats won the majority of seats in the 2022 election, so they control the chamber for the first time since 2010 and will continue to do so until this legislative session ends.
House Republicans are critical of the resignations for multiple reasons, according to Jason Gottesman, spokesperson for House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster.
“Given that these members will only serve for a limited number of weeks before the General Election, the only need to hold these costly special elections at this late date is for House Democrats to continue to gerrymander the membership of the House so they can continue playing politics with the legislative agenda instead of uniting Pennsylvanians by advancing shared goals important to everyone,” he said. “We have faith in the people of Pennsylvania to hold House Democrats accountable for their continued political games and open partisanship in November.”
Republicans are technically down one member as Rep. Joe Kerwin, R-Dauphin, a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, was deployed to East Africa.
His absence is excused and he remains a member of the total number of Republicans in the chamber.
Special elections are scheduled for Sept. 17. They will be sworn in after the election is certified, though a specific date still needs to be set.
The House returns one week later on Sept. 23.