The special elections will be held under the old legislative district maps.

Photo: Wheatley left his former position as state Representative for Pa.’s 19th District to take on the role of Chief of Staff for now-Mayor Ed Gainey. Registered voters will determine who fills his vacant seat in an April 5 special election.

By Ashlee Green

Approximately 93,000 registered voters can determine who will fill the now-vacant state House seats of Jake Wheatley and Ed Gainey in the April 5 special elections.

Wheatley left his former position as state Representative for Pa.’s 19th District, which includes parts of Pittsburgh’s Northside, to take on the role of Chief of Staff for now-Mayor Ed Gainey. Gainey left his former position as state Representative for Pa.’s 24th District to assume the office of Pittsburgh mayor on Jan. 3. 

Democrat Aerion Abney will be on the ballot vying for Wheatley’s former position, while Democrat Rev. Glenn Grayson is reportedly “mounting a write-in campaign” for the same spot, according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Democrat Martell Covington and Republican Todd Koger will be on the ballot, battling over Gainey’s former position.

Only voters who live in the 19th and 24th districts of Pa. are eligible to vote in these special elections. Typically, special elections are held the same day as a primary or general election, The Trib reported. Since Pennsylvania has been in the process of legislative redistricting, though, House Speaker Bryan Cutler made the call for the special elections to be held on “their own unique date,” according to a press release, in order to “[eliminate] potential confusion for voters.”

“These special elections are to complete the terms under the current, or old, map,” Cutler said.

Updated legislative district maps, however, which are based on data from the 2020 census, will be in effect starting on the upcoming primary election date of May 17.

Links to the special elections polling places in each district are listed on the Allegheny County Elections Division website at this link: https://alleghenycounty.us/elections/special-election-information.aspx. 

Polls for the special elections will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Once polls close for the day, residents can check the Pa. Department of State website to view the special elections results at https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/.