Pennsylvania’s 12th District elected state Rep. Fred Keller (R) to finish Rep. Tom Marino’s (R) term. He stepped down in January.
The district has a sizeable Republican population so the result should not shock anyone. However, the large margin of defeat may show a bright 2020 for Republicans.
President Donald Trump tweeted his congratulations to Keller.
Keller defeated Democrat Marc Friedenberg 71.9% to 28.1%. The Washington Free Beacon senior writer Brent Scher noted that the victory margin widened for the Republicans.
From The Washington Post:
Friedenberg was also the Democratic nominee in 2018, when he lost to Marino by 32 percentage points.Pennsylvania redrew its congressional districts in 2018. The current 12th District, which covers a large and deeply conservative swath of the north and central parts of the state, voted 66.1 percent for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
After the new districts came out, the left hyped up the possibility that Democrats stood a chance to win more seats in the House. While they managed to flip four seats in 2018, the Republicans flipped one. These results left Pennsylvania with a split in 2018 with each party holding nine seats instead of the blowout Democrats wanted.
The Democrats hardly paid attention to the 12th District special election, but President Donald Trump attended a rally for Keller in Montoursville on Tuesday to push for Keller’s election. Trump also tweeted out support for Keller and sent out a robocall.
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