Democrat Tony DeLuca, a Pennsylvania state representative in the United States who died last month, was “reelected” during the midterm elections.
DeLuca died October 9, 2022, after a brief battle with lymphoma, a disease he twice previously beat. He died at the age of 85.
DeLuca was Pennsylvania’s longest-serving state rep, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“While we’re incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters to continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by re-electing him posthumously. A special election will follow soon,” Pennsylvania House Democrats said in a tweet.
Some observers speculate that many voters chose DeLuca knowing he was dead in order to force a special election rather than vote for his third-party opponent, according to local reporter Charlie Wolfson.
DeLuca’s opponent, Queonia Livingston, reportedly ran on a decidedly left-wing platform, putting her three main priorities on her website as environmental justice, ending the war on drugs and reducing gun violence.
