What does the ‘blue tsunami’ mean for Pa.? Highlights from our Reddit AMA

Voters across the country threw their support behind Democrats in historic fashion on Tuesday, delivering the party widespread control after lifting President Donald Trump’s GOP to power just two years ago.⁠

Pennsylvania will have a trifecta of Democratic control in Harrisburg and four new seats in Washington come January.

Inquirer reporters Sam Janesch and Gillian McGoldrick took to Reddit to answer questions about what this “blue tsunami” means for Pennsylvania during a Reddit AMA with r/Pennsylvania. Here are some of the highlights. Some questions and answers have been edited for length, clarity, and tone.

According to our quick analysis of the unofficial 2026 results and the 2024 results, every one of the 92 state House races that had a Democrat and a Republican on the ballot in each year shifted toward the Democratic nominee this year — by between 3 and 28 percentage points.

The largest shift was in the 12th Legislative District in Butler County, where Democrat Brandon Dukes was running for a full term after winning a stunning upset in a special election over the summer. In a seat that went 65% to 35% for the Republican in 2024, Dukes was on track to lose in the general election this year 51% to 49%.

» READ MORE: Democrats win trifecta control of Pennsylvania Senate, House and governorship for the first time since 1993

The second and third largest swings were in the 88th District in Cumberland County, where Democrats flipped a seat held by the retiring longtime Republican Sheryl Delozier, and in the 126th District in Berks County, where Democrat Jacklyn Rusnock won a second term.

The smallest shifts — again, according to our very unofficial analysis — were in open races in the 45th District in Allegheny County and the 121st District in Luzerne County. Both were represented by retiring Democrats, and the Democratic nominees won with slightly better margins this year. The next several races that saw relatively smaller shifts of between 7 and 11 percentage points were in very Republican seats that stayed red. — Sam Janesch

This is a great question, and one I’ve been thinking about a lot! The Pennsylvania Senate Democratic caucus is very politically diverse — from a member who is part of the Democratic Socialists of America (Sen. Nikil Saval of Philadelphia) to a somewhat conservative Dem member who sometimes votes with Republicans (Sen. Lisa Boscola of Lehigh County) — so it will definitely be a balancing act. Other senators, like Sens. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny) and Katie Muth (D., Chester), are really committed to good-government fixes to how Harrisburg operates, which I’m sure they’ll continue to make known.

But also, I think those headaches are months or even years away. There are so many things Democrats have on their agenda they want to get done for so long that I think it will take a little bit for these divisions to be shown. Plus, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is the presiding officer with special tie-breaking powers that he could utilize in most instances (except during a bill’s final consideration, which he’s not permitted to vote on). — Gillian McGoldrick

Honestly, I haven’t heard anyone talk about joining that compact yet, but I’ll be sure to ask around about it in the coming weeks. I think Democrats are going to take on a lot of the Big Issues they’ve been waiting years to see through first, and begin working on some of their lesser known issues behind the scenes. I could see there being interest in some pretty ambitious tax changes, including an end to the state’s uniformity clause that many progressives see as a regressive tax structure designed to hurt working-class people. But the uniformity clause is written into the state constitution, and would require a constitutional amendment and ballot referendum to change it (which would take years and require Dems to hold on to a trifecta into the 2029-30 legislative session). — Gillian McGoldrick

As you might know, the “Former Fetterman Staffers” account on X went up in September soon after the Wall Street Journal reported on a series of issues around the senator. Our reporting at The Inquirer confirmed at the time that it was a legitimate group of former staffers who planned to share their real accounts of working for him.

But the account was also quickly criticized by other former Fetterman staffers who’d already gone public with their complaints — and said the anonymous staffers should put their names on their comments, too — and more who said it was a distraction from Democrats’ efforts to win the midterms.

» READ MORE: What is John Fetterman doing?

It’s unclear exactly why the account went cold, but our reporting in October also revealed new behind-the-scenes issues around Fetterman as well as a more comprehensive accounting of how he’s spent his time in office. More than a half-dozen former Fetterman staffers told The Inquirer that the senator is almost entirely disengaged with the work, is frequently begged to take meetings and sometimes leaves Washington in the middle of session weeks to visit with his parents in York.

Even those who once knew him best say they did not know what he would do next, though resigning from office was not frequently mentioned as a possibility. — Sam Janesch

James Malone was always going to have an uphill battle to hold onto his seat. While parts of Lancaster are definitely rapidly blueing (Let’s talk about the 41st House District in a second!!), President Donald Trump won Malone’s district by 15 percentage points in 2024. It was really embarrassing for Republicans to lose it by a few hundred votes in a special election last year, so they made it a top target to win back. They left no stone unturned, with GOP groups digging up Malone’s old blog and Tumblr posts, including a 2023 Dungeons & Dragons fan fiction he wrote, as part of their strategy to knock out Malone.

Ultimately, Democrats ended up pulling out their funding in Malone’s race by Oct. 13, according to [media tracking firm] AdImpact, while Republicans more than doubled their spending for Tom Jones in the final weeks of the campaign.

It’s unclear whether Malone will have a future in state politics. But he can definitely be credited for restoring hope for Democrats, after months of mourning after the 2024 election results. He should also receive props for giving Democrats hope that a trifecta was possible, and received shoutouts from Gov. Josh Shapiro and other Democrats during a rally on Wednesday to celebrate the new trifecta.

» READ MORE: Mass transit, minimum wage, weed: Here’s what Pa. Democrats say they’ll address next year — and what is still uncertain

Lancaster is definitely still getting bluer. Lancaster County as a whole voted for Shapiro, making him only the second Democratic governor to win the county. In the 41st House District outside Lancaster city, it looks like the Democratic challenger Brad Chambers will fall short by only a few votes.

And the TLDR on reproductive rights in a trifecta: Enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution is a top priority that Dems promise to vote on right away when they take control next year, but it’s a long and winding process that won’t get before voters until, at earliest, the 2029 primary election. — Gillian McGoldrick