A Democrat in Pennsylvania’s Home of Representatives has died, the Home Democratic caucus mentioned Sunday evening, leaving the chamber deadlocked at a 101-101 partisan divide.
Rep. Matt Gergely, D-Allegheny, died Sunday.
He was 45, Home Democrats mentioned.
Neither Home Democrats or Gergely’s household disclosed a trigger, though they mentioned two weeks in the past that he had suffered a “medical emergency over the holidays requiring hospitalization” within the days earlier than the chamber convened its two-year session earlier this month.
Home Democrats gained a one-seat margin in November’s election, the identical one-seat margin that Democrats had maintained within the final legislative session.
Gergely’s demise means the chamber can be tied at 101-101 till a particular election is held to fill the seat within the closely Democratic Pittsburgh-area district.
Within the final two-year session, Home Democratic majority managed by means of varied vacancies of their ranks, at instances bogging down the tempo of lawmaking in the course of the two-year legislative session.
Of their assertion Sunday evening, Home Democrats mentioned a particular election to fill Gergely’s seat can be known as by Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, at a later date.
“Matt will be desperately missed in Harrisburg and we know his passing is a tremendous loss to his communities in Western Pennsylvania. Please join us in keeping his wife and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time,” Home Democrats mentioned.
