Iovino Defeats Raja In State Senate Special Election

PITTSBURGH, PA - Democrat Pam Iovino won the special election for Pennsylvania’s 37th Senatorial District Tuesday, flipping a seat that’s been under Republican control for most of the past five decades.

Iovino, a Navy veteran former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, defeated Republican D. Raja, the owner of an information technology consulting firm. The pair were running to succeed Republican . Guy Reschenthaler, who was elected to the U.S. House in November.

With 100 percent of Allegheny County precincts reporting, Iovino had 31,152 votes to Raja’s 26,999, giving her a 53.5-to-46.3 percent edge. Final results from the portion of the district in Washington County were not immediately available Wednesday morning, but they will not alter the election outcome.

Iovino’s victory gives Democrats 22 of the 50 seats in the Senate. Given the district’s history and the fact that Donald Trump won it in the 2016 presidential elections, Democrats now have optimism as they attempt to make further progress in taking control of the Senate.

“Congratulations to (Iovino) for flipping a district Trump carried,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated in a congratulatory tweet. “Now let’s work and in the Pennsylvania state Senate in 2020.”

The district includes Allegheny County’s southern and western suburbs, including Robinson, Moon, Upper St. Clair, Whitehall Sewickley and Sewickley Heights.

Some fun pictures from tonight!
https://t.co/udpHevRQpd
— Pam Iovino (@pamforpa) April" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/pamforpa/s... 3, 2019

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