Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives will be led by a Democrat who vows to become an independent, was nominated by Republicans, and has ties to Democrat Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro.
In a tense nomination process on Tuesday, Rep. Mark Rozzi of Berks County was named Speaker of the House, with 115 members voting for Rozzi and 85 members voting for Republican nominee Carl Walker Metzger.
At the time of the vote, the House had 99 Democrats, 101 Republicans, and three vacancies all in Democrat strongholds. It means Republicans are in the majority for now, but once the vacancies are filled, power will likely flip in Democrats’ favor: 102 to 101….}