Pennsylvania Republicans held on to two state House seats, critical to keeping them within striking range of majority control, in special elections Tuesday.

Preliminary counts showed Catherine Wallen of York Springs had prevailed over Todd Crawley in the 193rd House District, covering parts of Adams and Cumberland counties.

In Blair County, meanwhile, Andrea Verobish defeated Caleb McCoy in the Altoona-based 79th House District.

The results were not surprising: Both seats contested Tuesday have a decided Republican edge based on recent voter performance.

Even so, the GOP badly needed the wins after the Democrats held serve in two other special elections last month to retain their majority in the 203-member House.

If Democrats sought a silver lining, it could be that their candidates in this month’s special did run several points closer than the party fared in the Trump v. Harris presidential vote in 2024.

Going into Tuesday’s voting, Democrats held a slim, 102-98 majority in the House, a margin that will move to 102-100 after the winners are seated.

The last remaining vacancy, created by the resignation of Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, earlier this winter, will be filled on primary election day, May 19.

Wallen, a former district director for Rep. Torren Ecker, the lawmaker she seeks to replace, scored a big win over Crawley.

With all precincts reporting, Wallen had won 59.7 percent of the vote to Crawley’s 40.3 percent.

For her, that represented one mission accomplished.

“I wanted to results to show that I’m the right candidate,” Wallen told PennLive in a telephone interview from her victory celebration. “That I’m the person they can trust to represent them in Harrisburg.”

With near 20-point win, Wallen said she felt she achieved that goal.

Attempts to reach Crawley were not successful for this report.

The two are likely to have a rematch for a full two-year term in November, as they are the only candidates to file for ballot spots in their respective parties’ May primary.

Ecker left the state House in January after winning election last year as an Adams County judge.

Verobish, a district staff member for U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, scored a double-digit win over McCoy, a registered nurse.

With all precincts reporting in the 79th, Verobish was polling 57.6 percent of the vote, to McCoy’s 42.4 percent.

They vied to replace Rep. Lou Schmitt, who was elected to the Blair County bench in November.

Verobish and McCoy are also headed for a rematch in the fall.

As has been the case for much of the last political generation, both parties will likely head into the fall campaign fully believing they can grab a House majority for 2027-28.