Drawn into a new district where Democrats make up nearly two-thirds of the electorate, Republican Lori Mizgorski, a state House lawmaker in her second term, will instead take a run at Lindsey Williams for a seat in the state Senate.
Ms. Mizgorski, a Shaler resident, will seek the Republican nomination for the 38th senatorial district — represented by Ms. Williams, a Democrat — on a pledge to focus on education and school safety, access to affordable health care and economic growth in manufacturing and energy, she announced Monday.
“As a state legislator, I have always been a strong advocate for my constituents in Harrisburg, as well as worked to provide the very best constituent services here at home,” Ms. Mizgorski said in a statement. “I work hard every day to make sure our region remains a great place to live, work, raise our families and retire.”
Ms. Mizgorski, a fiscal conservative who brags of curtailing the out-of-control spending of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, won her seat in the state House in 2018 in a district in the North Hills that had never elected a woman before.
But the 30th district as it’s drawn now — covering the northern suburbs of Hampton, Richland, Fox Chapel and parts of O’Hara and Shaler — will no longer include Ms. Mizgorski’s home in the new legislative maps that were recently finalized.
The once-a-decade redistricting split the 30th in three and drew Ms. Mizgorski into a far more Democratic district: the 21st, currently represented by Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, where more than 59% of registered voters are Democrats, according to an analysis by Spotlight PA.
The district that elected Ms. Mizgorski twice was a toss-up, split 44% to 41% registered Democrat to Republican.
She will now bid for the GOP nomination with hopes of facing Ms. Williams in the November general election. Ms. Williams, nearing the end of her first term, wrote in a recent email to supporters that she’s running for re-election because she believes “the working families of Pennsylvania deserve someone who listens to and understands their needs.”
“My Democratic colleagues and I have organized and voted against a number of dangerous bills, from unconstitutional voter suppression measures to full-fledged attacks on women’s reproductive care, and it is a constant battle,” Ms. Williams wrote. “We can’t afford to lose a single seat this election — and I can’t hold the line without your help.”
Before she was elected to the state House, Ms. Mizgorski had served as a Shaler Township Commissioner and worked for her predecessor, state Rep. Hal English.
In her campaign announcement, she noted that she joined her colleagues in the GOP to vote to curtail Mr. Wolf’s emergency powers, leading to a ballot amendment last year that passed. She said she knows residents want “more local control, transparency and a say in how the Commonwealth moves forward.”
“I agree with many constituents who feel the time for one-size-fits-all and unilateral decision-making government is over,” Ms. Mizgorski said. “We need leaders in Harrisburg who respond to the needs of every-day Pennsylvanians, not just rubber-stamp the governor’s overreaching policies.”
Ms. Mizgorski is not the only Western Pennsylvania state lawmaker who, faced with a prospect of running against a neighboring incumbent due to redistricting, announced a run for another office.
Carrie Lewis Delrosso, R-Oakmont, was drawn out of her 33rd House District seat and is now running for lieutenant governor.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth
First Published: February 14, 2022, 10:59 p.m.
