Candidates in two overlapping Northeast Philadelphia state legislative districts were separated by just hundreds of votes a day after polls closed in the 2024 general election.
At the time Metro went to print, major media organizations had not called either contest, and no one involved in the two races appears to have publicly conceded or declared victory.
Republican Joe Picozzi had a 862-vote lead – a margin of less than 1% – over incumbent Democratic state Sen. Jimmy Dillon in the 5th district, according to unofficial results posted Wednesday afternoon on the City Commissioners website.
Should he hold on, Picozzi would join state Rep. Martina White (who was reelected without opposition Tuesday) as the only GOP lawmakers from Philadelphia in Harrisburg. He is a 29-year-old Tacony resident who spent time in Washington, D.C., as a staffer for former House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Voters picked Dillon, who runs a basketball academy, in a special election two years ago when then-Sen. John Sabatina Jr. resigned after being elected to serve as a Court of Common Pleas judge. Dillon’s brother, Shawn, was initially set to be on the ballot, but party officials replaced him when local GOP leaders challenged his paperwork.
The GOP will retain its majority in the Pennsylvania Senate, no matter the outcome in the 5th; however, control of the state House of Representatives was still up in the air Wednesday.
Among the races that could help decide the fate of the chamber is in the 172nd district, which incorporates Fox Chase, along with sections of Burholme, Rhawnhurst and Bustleton.
Preliminary results from the state’s election returns website showed Democrat Sean Dougherty with an advantage of around 450 votes over Republican Aizaz Gill, at the time Metro went to print.
Dougherty, an attorney and former public defender, defeated incumbent Kevin Boyle in the April primary, after reports emerged about Boyle experiencing mental health-related outbursts.
His father, Kevin Dougherty, is a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice, and his uncle, former electricians union leader John Dougherty, was a political force in the region before being convicted of federal embezzlement and bribery charges.
Gill managed longtime Republican City Councilmember Brian O’Neill’s most recent successful reelection campaign and is president of the Burholme Townwatch and Civic Association.
Incumbent Democratic Sens. Nikil Saval, Sharif Street and Vincent Hughes were reelected after running unopposed.
Twenty-four Democrats from Philadelphia also did not face opposition in their pursuit of two-year state House terms – Amen Brown, Pat Gallagher, Ed Neilson, MaryLouise Isaacson, Joe Hohenstein, Jason Dawkins, Jose A. Giral, Malcolm Kenyatta, Ben Waxman, Elizabeth Fieldler, Regina G. Young, Jordan A. Harris, Rick Krajewski, Roni Green, Joanna E. McClinton, Morgan Cephas, Tarik Khan, Keith S. Harris, Danilo Burgos, Darisha K. Parker, Chris Rabb, Andre D. Carroll, Jared Solomon and Anthony Bellmon.
