Christopher Deluzio (D), Jeremy Shaffer (R), and write-in candidate Walter Sluzynsky (Independent) are running in the general election in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District on November 8, 2022.
Incumbent Conor Lamb (D), first elected in a March 2018 special election, ran for the U.S. Senate and did not seek re-election. Lamb defeated Sean Parnell (R) in the 2020 general election 51% to 49%.
Insider‘s Hanna Kang wrote, “Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District encompasses the Pittsburgh suburbs of Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, and Beaver Falls. President Joe Biden had a 30 percentage point margin of victory under the district’s previous boundaries in 2020 — before it was redrawn to slightly extend its southeastern tip and take in more of the Penn Hills area in Allegheny County in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly more Democratic.”
Deluzio is an attorney and the policy director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security. He received a bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy and a J.D. from Georgetown Law School. His previous work experience includes serving as an active-duty naval officer and working at the Brennan Center for Justice. Deluzio told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he ran for Congress because “Washington is broken and we need leaders willing to stand up to the corporate giants who are gouging us and against extremism that limits people’s rights…I also think the fundamental rights I served to protect in the military are in jeopardy. From voting rights to abortion rights, we must defend them against those who would attack our freedom.”
Shaffer is an engineer and an executive at Bentley Systems, an infrastructure engineering software company. He received a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, a master’s and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina. His previous work experience includes co-founding a software company that provided inspection management services for bridges and roads. Shaffer told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he was “a bipartisan problem-solver, [that] will work with those on both sides who want to deliver common-sense solutions and real reforms.” He said he ran for Congress because “Politics has become a blood-sport in which our country and average Americans are the losers. We desperately need leaders who will work together and make the tough decisions to put America back on track.”
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 118th Congress. All 435 House districts are up for election. As of October 2022, Democrats held a 220-212 majority in the U.S. House with three vacancies. Republicans need to gain a net of five districts to win a majority in the chamber.
Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 52.3% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 46.5%. As of October 2022, 50% of the district’s active voters were registered Democrats, 36% were registered Republicans, and 15% were either registered with some other party or unaffiliated.
Additional reading:
https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania%27s_17th_Congressional_District_election,_2020
https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania%27s_18th_Congressional_District_special_election,_2018
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