Democrat James Malone has won a surprising victory for an open Pennsylvania state Senate seat in a district that strongly supported President Trump in the 2020 election, according to a Decision Desk HQ projection.
Malone, who is the mayor of East Petersburg, defeated Republican Josh Parsons, a Lancaster County commissioner, by a narrow margin. He will represent Senate District 36 for the rest of former state Sen. Ryan Aument’s term. Aument resigned in December to become the state director for Senator Dave McCormick.
As of Wednesday morning, Malone is leading Parsons by about 500 votes.
The district, which Trump won by 57% in 2020, was expected to be a tough race for Malone. McCormick also won here with 56% of the vote. In fact, Aument ran unopposed in his last election in 2022. Despite this, Malone managed to pull off a victory, continuing the trend of Democrats winning surprising elections in conservative areas since Trump took office.
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, praised Malone’s win, calling it a major blow to the Republicans. “In a district that went to Trump by 15 points in 2024 and has a 23-point Republican voter registration advantage, Malone’s victory is a loud and clear rebuke to Republicans’ threats to the programs Pennsylvania families rely on,” Martin said. “To protect working Americans, Democrats like Senator-elect Malone are competing everywhere.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also celebrated the win, calling it part of a larger trend of Democrats winning in Republican-leaning districts. Heather Williams, president of the committee, said, “Democrats have defied the odds again with another upset victory in Republican territory.”
Malone’s victory reduces the GOP majority in the Pennsylvania state Senate to 27-23.
