Izzy Smith-Wade-El, Mike Sturla win state House races in historic election for Lancaster Democrats

[BumRushDaShow]

Izzy Smith-Wade-El, Mike Sturla win state House races in historic election for Lancaster Democrats

JADE CAMPOS | Staff Writer 2 hrs ago



Lancaster County will send two Democrats to the state House of Representatives for the first time in decades, a historic result on an otherwise Republican-friendly night nationally. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, who resigned his position as president of Lancaster’s city council on Monday, is the first African American and LGBTQ person elected to Harrisburg from the county. With all precincts and mail-in ballots counted, he led Republican Anne Rivers by 3,800 votes in the 49th District.

Smith-Wade-El took 64% of the vote to Rivers' 36%. State Rep. Mike Sturla, meanwhile, overcame a strong challenge from Republican April Weaver to win a 17th term in the 96th District race. Sturla led Weaver by about 3,200 votes, winning 57% of the vote to Weaver's 43%.

Sturla hasn’t shared the House floor with a local member of his party since his first term in 1991, when Lebanon County Democrat Ed Arnold represented the 102nd District, which then included Manheim Borough and Penn Township. Republicans continue to dominate the county’s delegation in Harrisburg, holding all three senate seats that cover parts of the county and seven of nine House seats.

At a post-election celebration Tuesday night at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse in Lancaster, Sturla said his win and Smith-Wade-El’s show the party is gaining a stronger presence in the county. With a drink in hand, he expressed excitement for the opportunity to work with another Lancaster Democrat in the state House. “I’ve been waiting for 30 years for this,” Sturla said. “So many people thought my first win was a fluke… The Democratic Party is not a fluke.”

(snip)

https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/izzy-smith-wade-el-mike-sturla-win-state-house-races-in-historic-election-for-lancaster/article_6fdc52f0-5fe5-11ed-a64c-a345404592d5.html

Although Lancaster City is blue, the county of Lancaster is reddish and slowly showing signs of pale lavender, and the area just put 2 new Democrats in the state House!!!!