The region’s first election of 2026 wasn’t close. In a district that has voted 2-to-1 for Democrats in recent years, Jennifer Mazzocco was well on her way to victory with an even larger margin.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. for Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 42nd state House district. The Associated Press called the race around 8:45 p.m.

The district includes South Hills suburbs Mount Lebanon, Dormont, Castle Shannon, Baldwin Township and part of Upper St. Clair. On the ballot were Mazzocco, a Democratic high school teacher, and Republican attorney Joseph Leckenby.

Mazzocco will serve the remainder of the 2025-26 legislative term after the district’s prior representative, Dan Miller, a Democrat, resigned in January to become a judge. Mazzocco is a 42-year-old teacher at Allderdice High School. 

Democrats will hold 101 seats in the House after Mazzocco is sworn in; Republicans hold 98 and there are three vacancies. Another special election today in Lehigh County will increase one of those numbers but cannot give Republicans the majority.

Before the resignations that caused these special elections, Democrats held a one-vote majority in the lower chamber. State government will remain divided as Democrat Josh Shapiro is governor and Republicans control the Senate.

The winners will have to run in primaries and general elections this year to keep their seats going into the next term.

Miller won more than 66% of the vote against Leckenby in 2024, and the Democrat rolled up 68% of the vote in 2020 and 2022. The district has voted reliably Democratic for around two decades.

Nonetheless, in the early stages of a midterm year that will decide control of the state General Assembly and Congress, political observers are watching special elections closely for indications of partisan fervor. A month ago, a Democratic win in a special election to a Texas state Senate seat became national news.

Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

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Democrat cruises to victory in South Hills special election for state House

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
February 24, 2026

<h1>Democrat cruises to victory in South Hills special election for state House</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />February 24, 2026</p> <p>The region’s first election of 2026 wasn’t close. In a district that has voted 2-to-1 for Democrats in recent years, Jennifer Mazzocco was well on her way to victory with an even larger margin.</p> <p>Polls closed at 8 p.m. for Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 42nd state House district. The Associated Press called the race around 8:45 p.m.</p> <p>The district includes South Hills suburbs Mount Lebanon, Dormont, Castle Shannon, Baldwin Township and part of Upper St. Clair. On the ballot were <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pennsylvania-special-election-42-house-district-voter-issues/?relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=1329784&amp;relatedposts_position=1">Mazzocco, a Democratic high school teacher, and Republican attorney Joseph Leckenby</a>.</p> <p>Mazzocco will serve the remainder of the 2025-26 legislative term after the district’s prior representative, Dan Miller, a Democrat, resigned in January to become a judge. Mazzocco is a 42-year-old teacher at Allderdice High School.&nbsp;</p> <p>Democrats will hold 101 seats in the House after Mazzocco is sworn in; Republicans hold 98 and there are three vacancies. Another special election today in Lehigh County will increase one of those numbers but cannot give Republicans the majority.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/JM-010.jpg" alt="Person with curly brown hair wearing a light purple blazer and white top, smiling, posed against a plain light gray background." class="wp-image-1329408" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Courtesy of Mazzocco campaign</figcaption></figure> <p>Before the resignations that caused these special elections, Democrats held a one-vote majority in the lower chamber. State government will remain divided as Democrat Josh Shapiro is governor and Republicans control the Senate.</p> <p>The winners will have to run in primaries and general elections this year to keep their seats going into the next term.</p> </p> <p>Miller won more than 66% of the vote against Leckenby in 2024, and the Democrat rolled up 68% of the vote in 2020 and 2022. The district has voted reliably Democratic for around two decades.</p> <p>Nonetheless, in the early stages of a midterm year that will decide control of the state General Assembly and Congress, political observers are watching special elections closely for indications of partisan fervor. A month ago, a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-senate-district-9-early-vote-rehmet-leads-wambsganss-tarrant-county/">Democratic win in a special election</a> to a Texas state Senate seat became national news.</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:charlie@publicsource.org">charlie@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/live-results-special-election-pennsylvania-42-house-district/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1329784&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/live-results-special-election-pennsylvania-42-house-district/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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