Pennsylvania secures trifecta in midterm election

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro cruised to a second term with a massive statewide victory. The Associated Press projected the Democrat as the winner just minutes after the polls closed last night in the state. The governor was highly favored to defeat Republican challenger Stacey Garrity, the state treasurer who lagged behind in fundraising and polling throughout the campaign. You declared that you could not be more ready for an end of this ruthless chaos and cruelty and this rampant corruption. Yeah, absolutely. It has a lot of name recognition, a lot of campaign cash, and, you know, it's a difficult climate right now and a lot of things out of my control. Democrats also believe they maintain their majority in the Pennsylvania State House and have flipped the state Senate for the first time in more than three decades. It hands Shapiro a trifecta of power for his second term. Aliana has more on those results. Yeah, Matt, here are the state Senate seats that flipped for Democrats in our area. We've got Eileen Hartnett-Alvar defeated the 6th District's incumbent, Frank Ferry, in a close race out of Bucks County. Now, Mark Pinsley had an edge over incumbent Jared Coleman in District 16. That's covering the Lehigh Valley. And Democrat Chris Thomas claimed victory over incumbent Republican Tracy Pennycook in Berks and Montgomery counties. This is the first time that Democrats will control the state Senate since 1993, giving Governor Josh Shapiro an advantage in Harrisburg as he tries to implement his policies. Action News John Paul has more on his agenda from Harrisburg. Yeah, yesterday's vote decides the balance of power in Harrisburg. The Democrats trying to make that trifecta, the governor, the House and the Senate. And the reason they want to do that is to push through their agenda items. Some of the things on that list include raising the minimum wage. That is something the governor said that he would sign. Also. transit funding. We know that SEPTA has had to cut service this year because of a lack of funding. Eventually, they did find some emergency funds, but it wasn't a permanent fix. That is something the Democrats are hoping to push through. Of course, all of these issues are very Philadelphia centric. I've been talking to leaders in Philadelphia who have been pushing for some of these changes. They say a trifecta here in state legislature would help them move that that agenda forward. In Harrisburg, John Paul, Channel 6 Action News. Download the 6ABC app for continuing election coverage. You can find up-to-the-minute race results and analysis.