Voters reelected a Pennsylvania state representative on Tuesday — even though he died last month.
Anthony “Tony” DeLuca died from lymphoma on Oct. 9 at age 85. But it was too late to change the ballots, so he remained the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s 32nd legislative district.
DeLuca ended up winning more than 85% of the vote. He represented the deep blue district from 1983 until his death and was the longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania statehouse. His district covers the east Pittsburgh suburbs of Penn Hills and Verona, along with parts of Plum and Oakmont.
No Republicans challenged DeLuca. His only opponent was a Green Party candidate, Queonia Livingston, who received just 14% of the vote.
“While we’re incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by reelecting him posthumously,” the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee said in a tweet.
A special election will be held to fill DeLuca’s seat. Allegheny County’s elections division will choose the date of the election.
Dead men have won elections before, including brothel owner Dennis Hof, who won a Nevada state Senate seat in 2018.
Most famously, Democrat Mel Carnahan defeated incumbent Republican Josh Ashcraft in 2000 to win a U.S. Senate seat representing Missouri, even though Carnahan had died three weeks earlier in a plane crash.
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