In two Pennsylvania state legislative special elections on March 25, Democrats continued a trend of winning a larger share of the vote than compared to the 2024 presidential election in several districts. The party has improved in 12 of the 14 contested partisan special elections for state legislature nationwide this year. 

Democrats won Pennsylvania State Senate District 36 in the special election last Tuesday, a seat previously held by Ryan Aument (R), who resigned in December. James Malone (D) defeated Josh Parsons (R) 50%-49% after the district voted 57%-42% for Trump in 2024, for a 16-point swing toward Democrats. The New York Times’ Campbell Robertson wrote, “A Democrat had not won the district since it was shifted to Lancaster from the city of Philadelphia in 1979.”

In the special election for Pennsylvania House District 35, Dan Goughnour (D) defeated Charles Davis (R) 63%-35% for a 28-point victory after the district voted 58%-42% for Kamala Harris (D) in the 2024 presidential election, a 12-point swing toward Democrats.

These gains continued the trend of state legislative special election performances by Democrats earlier this year. Their two March 11 performances nearly broke the one-seat Republican supermajority in the Iowa House and successfully maintained a tie in the Minnesota House. Democrats also flipped an Iowa Senate seat in January following Republican Chris Cournoyer’s resignation to serve as lieutenant governor.

Republicans gained in 2021, too

In the first quarter of 2021 following Joe Biden’s (D) victory, Republicans outperformed their 2020 presidential election figures in seven of 12 state legislative special elections.

Here’s how the special election performances look overall so far in 2025: