Pennsylvania House Republicans are going to Court to decide who will have the majority for the first few months of the session next month. At some point, barring something going completely bonkers, Democrats will have a 1-seat majority. When that will be may be up to the Courts to decide.
Republican Leader and the previous House Speaker Bryan Cutler filing a Lawsuit saying the State can’t accept Democrat Leader Joanna McClinton setting the dates of three Special Elections because Democrats don’t have a true majority. McClinton, who took the oath as Majority Leader in an unpublicized swearing-in last week, says she has the right because Democrats won 102 seats in the 203-member body on November 8th.
However, Cutler called that move a “Paperwork Insurrection” since one of those seats was already vacant when the House term ended at the end of last month, due to the death of Rep. Anthony Deluca. Meaning, in reality, it’s a 101-101 tie. Add in the resignations last week of Reps. Austin Davis and Summer Lee, and the Republicans will still have a plurality. That’s why Cutler himself took the oath on Monday.
Cutler saying: “The timeline was very clear. We were at 101-101 we could have had an agreement to get through swearing-in day and we could have had resignations on or before the 3rd. The problem is when you come to the floor of the House and engage in activity in secret and you don’t inform other Members of what you intend to do, that creates a relationship that lacks trust and creates a problem going forward.”
If Democrats end up controlling the Special Elections, all three will happen on February 7th. If its Republicans, two of those could happen as late as the Primary in the Spring. The Speaker Election will happen on January 3rd.
