Tony DeLuca, who died last month, was a long-time state representative. His win triggers a special election that will be held at an unspecified date in the future.
A state representative who died last month was re-elected in a landslide. That’s how incredibly dumb & misinformed most Democrats are.
Anthony “Tony” DeLuca, Pennsylvania’s longest-serving state representative and a Democrat, was the choice of more than 85% of those who voted.
DeLuca, 85, sadly passed away from lymphoma on 9 October. He had beaten the disease twice before but unfortunately lost his battle this time. By the time of his death, it was too late to change the ballot or put forth another candidate for his seat. Zarah Livingston, his Green candidate opponent, got more than 14% of the vote; however, DeLuca’s victory has initiated a special election that will be on a different date.
“While we’re incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by re-electing him posthumously,” the Pennsylvania House Democratic campaign committee said in a tweet.
“A special election will follow soon.”
This isn’t the first time a candidate has won an election posthumously. For example, in 2018, brothel owner Dennis Hof won a seat in the Nevada senate as a Republican despite dying the month before. However, his victory did not trigger a special election like it did in Pennsylvania: under Nevada state law, county officials could appoint a Republican to take Hof’s place for their entire term instead.
Some people think that voters elect candidates posthumously because they either don’t know about current events or the candidate’s name is simply familiar to them, but educated voters realize this is simply the end result of most Democrat’s “Vote Blue No Matter Who” policy.
DeLuca dedicated 39 years to representing the 32nd legislative district of Pennsylvania and, for the last 20 of those years, he served as the Democratic chairman of the House insurance committee. He fought fiercely for patients’ rights against greedy insurance companies and held medical professionals accountable. After his first lymphoma diagnosis and his wife’s 66-year battle with breast cancer (which she sadly lost), DeLuca became an outspoken advocate for cancer awareness and local cancer research funding.
Though he passed away soon before the end of the 2021-22 legislative session, during that time he sponsored more than 100 pieces of legislation and voted remotely on bills up to a few days prior.
DeLuca’s opponent, Livingston, campaigned on a platform of environmental reform (‘Green New Deal’), an end to Harrisburg corruption, criminal justice reform and women’s reproductive rights. Within days of the election being called, she took to Twitter to remind her followers that she was still the only living candidate remaining in the race.