MANHEIM, Pa. — Democrat James Andrew Malone narrowly won a special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in Republican-leaning suburbs and farming communities, scoring an upset in a district that a Democrat hasn’t represented in the chamber for 136 years.

Malone’s victory over Republican Josh Parsons in Tuesday night’s election might provide a light in the darkness for Democrats struggling to unify around a strategy to counter President Donald Trump — and who are at each others’ throats publicly.

Malone said the chaos around Trump’s first two months in office helped him.

“If President Trump were trying to accomplish his agenda in a very methodical and cohesive and by-the-book way, we wouldn’t have as much vitriol as we do right now,” Malone said in an interview Wednesday.

“But he’s chosen to do it the way he does everything, right? Throw a brick in the basket and see what comes out,” said Malone, the mayor of tiny East Petersburg, population 4,500.

One of the top Democrats in the state Senate said Malone’s victory shows the national party the value of talking about protecting Social Security and health care access, amid what he sees as the chaos and pain that Trump’s administration is sowing.

“As much anger that people have, they have anxiety too,” Sen. Vince Hughes of Philadelphia said. “And last night’s election sends a message that people are going to respond.”

The Associated Press called the race Wednesday after receiving information from county officials that there were fewer ballots left to be counted than the margin in the race. Parsons conceded Wednesday. A Malone victory narrows GOP control of the state Senate to a 27-23 seat advantage.

Pennsylvania’s Republican Party chairman, Greg Rothman, said he didn’t think Trump’s performance in office hurt Parsons. The prices of gas and eggs are dropping and the federal government hasn’t cut Social Security or Medicare, he said.

Rather, Democrats did a better job at getting their supporters to vote early by mail, he said, while the more traditional Republican campaign apparently didn’t work.

“We need to take this as a wake-up call to the Republican Party that we can’t be complacent and we can’t just run campaigns like we’ve always run campaigns,” Rothman said. “We need to embrace early voting.”

Malone, 51, said he also was helped by Parsons’ confrontational and secretive style that alienated some Republican voters.

“That got around, you know. I have a contingent that literally just don’t want to see Parsons at the state level,” Malone said.

Parsons is a Lancaster County commissioner, military veteran and former prosecutor who has talked about having visited the White House four times and working with Trump staff on policy issues.

A Democratic flip of that district is a major upset. Trump won the district with 57% of the vote in November’s presidential election over former Vice President Kamala Harris. He went on to win the battleground state of Pennsylvania by almost 2 points.

A Democrat last represented Lancaster County in the Senate in 1889, Democrats say.

The election comes amid Democratic infighting and a torrent of frustration and anger over Senate Democrats in Washington, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, ensuring the passage of a Trump-backed spending measure that rank-and-file Democrats had opposed.

Schumer said the bill’s passage avoided a government shutdown that would have been worse. Following the vote, internal dissension burst into the open, with tension unusually high following the disastrous November election in which Democrats lost control of the White House and Congress.

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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter.

• Democratic Party
• Republican Party

Controller

• Democratic Party: Christy Brady (incumbent)
• Republican Party: Ari Patrinos

Court of Common Pleas judges

What is it?: The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a general trial jurisdiction court, has 101 judges across three divisions: trial, family and orphans’. Judges serve 10-year terms, after which they run in yes-no retention elections without an opponent.

Judges and justices serving on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court all serve 10-year terms, as do Court of Common Pleas judges. Philadelphia Municipal Court judges are elected to six-year terms.

• Trial Division: Most felony criminal and major civil cases with contested amounts over $12,000
• Family Division: Domestic matters like divorces, custody, child support and domestic violence as well as juvenile matters like delinquency, dependency and adoptions
• Orphans’ Division: Matters involving estates, wills and trusts

Vote for no more than 9

• Democratic Party
  • Anthony Stefanski*
  • Brian Kisielewski*
  • Deborah Watson-Stokes*
  • Elliott G. Williams
  • Irina Ehrlich*
  • Kia Ghee*
  • Larry Farnese*
  • Leon A. King II*
  • Michael Parkinson*
  • Mike Huff
  • Qawi Abdul-Rahman
  • Sarah Jones*
  • Sherrie Cohen
  • Taniesha Henry
  • Will Braveman*
• Republican Party

* recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association Judicial Commission

Municipal Court judges

What is it?: Philadelphia’s Municipal Court is a limited jurisdiction court of record comprised of 27 judges across three divisions: criminal, civil and traffic. Judges are elected for six-year terms, after which they run in yes-no retention elections without an opponent.

• Criminal Division: Adult criminal cases with maximum incarceration sentences of up to five years. It also has initial jurisdiction in processing the city’s criminal arrests and holds misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases
• Civil Division: Civil cases with contested amounts up to $12,000, landlord-tenant cases and real estate and school tax cases with contested amounts up to $15,000
• Traffic Division: Traffic violations

Vote for no more than 3

• Democratic Party
  • Amanda Davidson*
  • Cortez Patton
  • Mike Huff
  • Qawi Abdul-Rahman
  • Shawn Page
  • Sherrie Cohen
• Republican Party

* recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association Judicial Commission

Inspector and judge of election

• What does a judge of elections do?: The judge of elections is responsible for overseeing the entire election process and voter activities for their division.
• What does an inspector of elections do?: The inspector of elections assists the judge of elections in overseeing the entire election process at a particular polling place and helps enforce voting regulations and procedures.

Elected by ward and division. Vote for 1 each

See below to check which Democratic and Republican candidates are running to become inspectors or judges of elections based on ward and division.

Unsure which Philadelphia election ward and division you’re in? Use the city’s Atlas tool to look up your ward and division number, along with your polling place.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is asking President Donald Trump’s administration to reconsider its decision to cancel $13 million in funding for Pennsylvania food banks to buy food from local farmers.

Shapiro said Tuesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture illegally canceled a three-year contract the agency and the state had agreed to in December. In response, he said, Pennsylvania’s secretary of agriculture will file an internal appeal with the agency challenging the cancellation.

If USDA does not change course, he said, Pennsylvania may take legal action.

“Pennsylvania farmers and food banks are owed $13 million, and I won’t stand by and let our farmers get screwed in the process,” Shapiro said at a news conference Tuesday at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which lost $1.8 million in expected federal dollars.

Shapiro, a first-term Democrat and a former state attorney general, has already sued the Trump administration once over a $2.1 billion freeze to environmental and energy projects in the state. And the governor warned last week after Trump signed an order to begin dismantling the Department of Education that he would consider legal action against the administration if Pennsylvania students are affected.

» READ MORE: Pa. food banks are facing millions in federal funding cuts as they fear increased need

Earlier this month, USDA announced it would end the $470 million Local Food Purchase Agreement Program, arguing it was time to move on from the pandemic-era initiative.

In a letter to the federal government Tuesday, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said USDA had told the state the program no longer met the agency’s priorities. He responded that there was no basis for the claim, noting that the program had supported 190 farms statewide while providing 25.9 million pounds of food to charitable organizations in the last three years.

In a statement, a USDA spokesperson reiterated that the agency was moving away from COVID-era programs, and said the agency remains committed to its mission of strengthening food security, agriculture markets, and access to healthy food.

”There is nothing unlawful about sunsetting a time-limited, pandemic-era initiative that does not align with the current Departmental priorities,” the statement said. “Unlike the Biden Administration, which funneled billions in [USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp.] funds into short-term programs with no plan for longevity, USDA is prioritizing stable, proven solutions that deliver lasting impact.”

In the meantime, USDA’s decision to cancel the program left food banks across the state grappling with the loss of funding that covered the cost of well over one million meals annually in the Philadelphia metro area alone. The funds were set to be distributed to 14 food banks across the state over three years.

» READ MORE: Pa.’s new attorney general won’t be suing President Trump. What you need to know about Republican Dave Sunday’s quest to be a ‘boring AG.’

Philabundance, which serves Philadelphia and the suburban counties, lost 18% of its food purchasing budget. Philadelphia’s Share Food Program lost $1.4 million and the Bucks County Opportunity Council lost around $260,000 annually.

The cuts came as food bank leaders said they are facing demand that mirrors the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders are worried food insecurity will continue to get worse amid tariffs, rising housing costs, and Republican proposals to slash food stamps and other social safety net programs.

George Matysik, executive director of the Share Food Program, said in a statement prior to Shapiro’s announcement that the organization was at risk of losing $8 million in food and funds this year because of a combination of several funding cuts.

“President Trump is declaring war on Poor People. This time targeting hungry students and their families, the Trump administration recently handed down yet another round of unconscionable funding cuts — and we are still bracing for what’s to come,” Matysik said.

Chris Hoffman, the president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said at Tuesday’s news conference that he was in touch with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and was hopeful the food purchase program could be made permanent in the next farm bill.

Shapiro, who has indicated a willingness to work with the Republican president, was steeply critical of the Trump administration, which he said had harmed the very farmers it claims to support.

» READ MORE: Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’ll consider legal action against the Trump administration if education cuts affect Pa. students

He called Trump’s efforts to impose tariffs the “dumbest economic decision I’ve ever seen a president make” and framed the funding cuts as yet another example of chaos sown by the federal government that would harm families and businesses in Pennsylvania.

“All of the chaos he’s created is doing real harm to our farmers,” Shapiro said. “Here in Pennsylvania, we want to make clear that we give a damn about our farmers and we’ve got your backs.”