By Christen Smith | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania voters picked two new congressmen to represent them in the nation’s capital.
The flips mean the partisan split for the state’s delegation will be 10-7 Republicans – the latest in a string of victories for the Grand Old Party as it fights to maintain a slim majority in the U.S. House.
Late Thursday, 27 races were left to be called and Democrats needed to win 20 to reach the 218 majority of the 435-member chamber.
Nearly two days after the polls closed, The Associated Press called the race between Robert Bresnahan Jr. and Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., with 99% of ballots counted. The Republican electrical contractor will take over the 8th Congressional District, which covers five counties along the borders of New York and New Jersey, from the six-term congressman after defeating him 51%-49%.
Just to the south, state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie unseated incumbent Democratic Rep. Susan Wild in the 7th Congressional District 50.7%-49.3%.
Although both Wild and Cartwright conceded their races by Wednesday, the AP did not declare the victors until Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, held onto his seat in the 10th district by just 1.6% in a tight race with Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson, a former TV anchor for WGAL News in Lancaster.
As of Thursday, Republicans are just eight seats away from majority control of the House – the last piece of the party’s possible government trifecta, after the presidency and the U.S. Senate flipped red.
Republican Dave McCormick also officially unseated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. after two days of counting left the candidates nearly 32,000 votes apart.
