HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Democrats have several reasons for wanting to win Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District.
Sure, they would like to beat Republican Rep. Scott Perry in the sprawling district that stretches from Gettysburg to the state capital of Harrisburg. Perry, first elected to the House in 2012, is locked in a tight race against Democratic challenger Eugene DePasquale, the state auditor. Winning on Nov. 3 would help expand the current Democratic House majority from its current 232-197 edge over Republicans, along with one Libertarian and five vacancies.
But winning the district would also give Democrats a backstop if the presidential race ends up tied. That’s never happened before, but it’s a plausible scenario this year in the topsy-turvy White House race between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. There are several combinations of Trump and Biden each winning key Electoral College states that could produce a 269-269 tie.
In that scenario, the race would go to the House of Representatives under the Constitution. The presidency would then be decided by who wins a majority, 26, of House delegations from each state.
Democrats are likely to hold and even expand their House majority. But House Republicans currently have a 26-23 edge in state delegations.
The one state that would not be counted under such a scenario is Pennsylvania since its House delegation is tied, with nine Republicans and nine Democratic members.
If Democratic House candidate DePasquale can win his congressional race, the Republicans’ House delegation edge would be narrowed to 26-24. Democrats are also making serious efforts to defeat House Republicans in some states with only one district, such as Alaska and Montana.
These presidential race machinations haven’t really come up, though, in the race between Perry and DePasquale. Perry, a retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard brigadier general who was a state representative for six years before joining Congress, is a staunch supporter of Trump. DePasquale, meanwhile, is running on bread-and-butter economic issues such as infrastructure investment and small business tax credits.
Lynette Jorgensen, an emergency room nurse, said Saturday in Harrisburg that she’s for DePasquale. She doesn’t know a lot about him but is planning to vote against Trump and wants to bring in Democrats to Congress to support Biden.
“The past four years have been disappointing. I voted for Trump in 2016, but he’s not what I thought he would be — with the constant arguing and name-calling,” said Jorgensen, 58.
But David Matuszek, taking a break from jogging along the Susquehanna River, said he’s all in for Perry and Trump.
Perry “has done a good job, trying to help businesses, particularly with things depressed because of coronavirus,” said Matuszek, a contractor. “I don’t see any reason to oppose him.”
