In a decisive victory, attorney and Pennsbury School Board member Jim Prokopiak, a Democrat, won Tuesday’s special election to succeed Rep. John Galloway in the PA 140th District in Lower Bucks County.
Tuesday night’s results are unofficial until certified, but it appears the victory will hand Democrats the majority in the state House for the rest of 2024.
“I ran for this seat because I want to make peoples’ lives easier in Bucks County,” Prokopiak said in a Tuesday night statement issued by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. “What I heard from voters is that Bucks County residents need help supporting their families, want control over their own bodies, and ensure they have the ability to chart their own paths in life. I’m committed to taking my conversations with voters to Harrisburg and making their dreams a reality.”
Prokopiak bested Republican Candace Cabanas in every one of the left-leaning district’s 33 voting precincts. Unofficial tallies had him taking 67% of the 9,611 votes cast in a race held during a snowstorm where turnout failed to crack 25%.
The last time the seat was up for re-election, in 2022, more than 19,000 voters cast ballots in the district, which includes Falls Township, Morrisville and Tullytown boroughs as well as part of Middletown Township. But turnout in the 140th in that 2022 election was buoyed by the race for PA governor and the hotly contested U.S. Senate race between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz at the top of the ticket.
Prokopiak, a former Falls Township supervisor, campaigned on job creation, affordable housing and healthcare, increased funding for public education and against restrictions on abortion rights. The pivotal race drew funding and support from national organizations.
As he’s sliding into the seat that Galloway vacated when he became a district judge, Prokopiak will have to run again this year if he wants to stay in office next year. He has already said he plans to do so.
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