A Western Pennsylvania lawmaker who won re-election in November was not sworn-in to the state Senate on Tuesday with the rest of the victors, as Republicans voted to deny his seating and ponder a challenge by his electoral opponent.
Sen. Jim Brewster, a McKeesport Democrat who has represented the 45th District for the last decade, defeated Republican Nicole Ziccarelli by 69 votes in the Nov. 3 contest, but didn’t get to take the oath of office on the Senate floor with the 24 others who won their races in this cycle.
The GOP majority tabled the seating so members of the Senate could digest both sides of an official challenge by Ms. Ziccarelli, interim Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said on Monday. Ms. Ziccarelli is asking a federal court to toss out votes in the race that would swing the district to her, and urged Senate Republicans, in the meantime, to use their majority to refuse the official vote certification on the chamber floor.
They did so on Tuesday in what was a messy, contentious session, in which Republicans voted to remove Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — who objected, as presiding officer, to the GOP’s efforts to block Mr. Brewster — and replace him with Mr. Corman.
Democrats maintain that the GOP is trying to steal an election in the 45th District, and senators took issue with Republicans replacing Mr. Fetterman. Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa called it a “hostile takeover” of the Senate. A spokeswoman for Mr. Corman said it was Mr. Fetterman who broke Senate rules.
Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, deemed the GOP’s block of Mr. Brewster “a shameful power grab that disgraces the institution.”
“It is simply unethical and undemocratic to leave the district without a voice simply because the Republicans don’t like the outcome of the election,” Mr. Wolf said in a statement. “Voters, not Harrisburg politicians, decided this election, and Sen. Brewster is the rightful winner.”
There is no precedent or “legal rationale,” Mr. Wolf added, for failing to seat Mr. Brewster.
But Republicans are putting their hopes in a legal remedy that hasn’t yet occurred: a ruling in U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan’s court invalidating a few hundred ballots in the race that were missing printed dates on their outer declaration envelopes, but otherwise correct and proven to have been submitted on time.
Those ballots were officially tallied by Allegheny County after the state Supreme Court gave officials the green light, while Ms. Ziccarelli argues now that their counting violated equal protection and due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.
WATCH: Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman addressed the contentious session on CNN Wednesday morning:
Final briefs in the suit aren’t due until Friday. Harrisburg Republicans have not indicated how they expect the process with the 45th District seat will unfold.
The day’s session started with a roll call vote on whether senators should be mandated to wear masks that day — and it passed unanimously.
That was the first and last showing of unity.
Sen. Steven Santarsiero, D-Bucks, started with a motion asking that the swearing-in of all senators be postponed until the federal court resolves Ms. Ziccarelli’s case. He alleged that the losing candidate filed a “specious petition” with the body asking it to invalidate the will of the people — a challenge not in compliance with law, and done after the state Supreme Court found the counting of the ballots at issue to be legal.
“I understand that candidates who lose are disappointed,” Mr. Santarsiero said, “but a candidate’s disappointment should not ever result in overturning our democratic process. A candidate’s disappointment should not render a nullity [to] a free and fair election through which Senator-elect Brewster was duly elected to serve the people of the 45th district.”
The effort was shot down by Republicans in a party-line vote.
When the GOP eventually motioned to table the results of the 45th district indefinitely, Mr. Fetterman, the presiding officer, said he wouldn’t recognize the motion, and requested that all certified senators be seated.
As Democrats yelled in opposition and Sen. Anthony Williams shouted that the GOP was violating the state constitution, the Republicans proceeded with a vote to replace Mr. Fetterman with Mr. Corman for the day. It passed on a party-line vote.
Mr. Corman started to run the session, but it didn’t stop Mr. Fetterman and his fellow Democrats from vocally objecting — and at times, seeming to run their own proceedings to counter the Republicans.
“The gentleman who sits at the podium is presiding officer of the Senate,” Mr. Williams shouted. “Any such indication otherwise is obviously a takeover of the government.”
Ms. Kocher, the Senate GOP spokeswoman, accused Mr. Fetterman and Democrats of damaging the institution and “willfully” not following Senate rules.
“We remain committed to conducting the business of the Senate in accordance with the rules and without displays of partisanship and disrespect that we saw today,” Ms. Kocher said.
When the oaths of office were administered, Mr. Brewster was at the rostrum with his fellow Democratic winners. Mr. Corman objected, and said he wouldn’t authorize the swearing-in unless Mr. Brewster stepped aside. Mr. Brewster did so voluntarily.
Mr. Costa, the Democratic leader, opposed Mr. Corman’s nomination as President Pro Tempore, citing his handling of Mr. Brewster’s seat. Mr. Corman was nonetheless confirmed, and Democrats walked off the floor before his speech.
“A leader who ignores the will of voters and refuses to seat a duly elected Senator – is no leader at all,” Mr. Costa wrote on Twitter.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: January 5, 2021, 6:46 p.m.
Updated: January 5, 2021, 9:53 p.m.
