Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Democrat Pam Iovino wins Pa. Senate seat ...
On Tuesday, the Democrat and Navy veteran was elected to the Pennsylvania state Senate, besting Republican D. Raja in a special election after a bruising two-month campaign that garnered national attention along the way.
During the race, Ms. Iovino, 62, of Mt. Lebanon, told voters in the 37th District that her two decades-plus in the Navy and subsequent stint in the executive branch would make her the right fit for the Legislature. In the district spanning Allegheny County's western and southern suburbs and in Peters Township on Tuesday, a majority of voters endorsed that message at the polls. ...
The election, which was expected to be close and possibly decided by a few hundred votes, was officially decided when Mr. Raja conceded to Ms. Iovino by phone at around 9:30 p.m. As of 10:10 p.m., she was about 4,000 votes ahead with 94 percent of precincts counted.
At that point, Democrats in Pennsylvania got what they had hoped for: another jolt of momentum heading into the 2020 election cycle, when they'll now need just three seats to flip the Senate blue and take a chamber in what's currently a Republican-controlled Legislature. ...
With the win, Ms. Iovino will serve out the remaining year-and-a-half of Guy Reschenthaler's Senate term. Mr. Reschenthaler vacated the seat after being sworn in to Congress in January.
Ideologically, Ms. Iovino's campaign agenda was strikingly similar to the legislative priorities of the current Senate Democratic caucus. When Gov. Tom Wolf campaigned for her last week, he said a victory would strengthen the hand of those who are advocating for his agenda.
