Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is once again locked in a tie.
The chamber has reflected the paper-thin margins of state politics since 2023 — or more precisely, since the moment votes were counted in the 2022 general election.
That election gave the Democrats a narrow majority with one hand but took it away with the other. Summer Lee won reelection to her state seat but also scored a promotion to Congress, leaving one seat empty. Austin Davis likewise won reelection but also won the lieutenant governor’s seat. There was another vacancy up for grabs.
The last was a seat everyone knew was likely to go to the man on the ticket, longtime representative Tony DeLuca. At 85 years old, DeLuca died in October 2022, just weeks before the general election. As he had in every election since 1982, DeLuca won. But that meant a third seat was empty.
All three would go to a special election. Democrats retained control when all three stayed in party hands.
The seat held by Davis went to Matthew Gergely — an Allegheny County native and a McKeesport High grad who spent his years working for his community and his school district. His brother Marc held the seat before Davis. Matthew Gergely was sworn into office in February 2023.
He won his first regular election — his first reelection — in November.
But over the holidays, he had a medical emergency. He was hospitalized. When the House went back into session Jan. 7, it was without Gergely. Republicans were willing to concede the Democrats held the majority, with everyone wishing their colleague the best.
But Sunday, Gergely died.
This is, naturally, a personal loss for the family. But by nature of his position, it is also a hurdle for the government.
It is, however, a predictable hurdle. Since those three seats were won but also immediately in play in 2022, the House of Representatives has been like a track meet. There have been stretches of normal business punctuated by the upsets. Special elections have come due to resignations for positives like Sara Innamorato to become Allegheny County executive or negatives like Mike Zabel of Delaware County stepping down amid sexual abuse allegations.
Is it likely that Democratic control, thin as it may be, will change with a special election? No. But anything is possible — as the loss of a 45-year-old legislator before he could be sworn in to his first full term illustrates.
With that in mind, the respect and understanding shown in the House on Jan. 7 needs to hold while there is no majority.