WASHINGTON _ Democrat Susan Wild has won the Pennsylvania special election to finish out the congressional term of retired Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, according to vote tallies completed Thursday.
Vote totals from the five counties within the 15th District show Wild with 130,353 votes. Republican Marty Nothstein had 129,593 votes, and Libertarian Tim Silfies received 8,572.
That means Wild, who handily won the two-year term to represent the Lehigh Valley in the congressional session that begins in January, edged out her opponents by 760 votes.
The special election resulted from Dent's decision to step down from his post in May, leaving the seat vacant. His 15th District covers Lehigh County and parts of Northampton, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin counties.
Due to the state Supreme Court's redistricting decision, the 15th District was reconfigured earlier this year. Starting in January, the Lehigh Valley will be part of the 7th District, which covers Lehigh, Northampton and part of southern Monroe counties.
Wild will get a head start on representing the region due to the special election win. She'll be sworn later in this month, joining the 115th session of Congress for the dozen or so session days left this year.
Wild said she is honored the voters picked her to complete Dent's term, and is happy to get to work this month, rather than wait until January.
"This speeds everything up," Wild said in a phone interview while in D.C., where she has been attending orientation sessions for incoming lawmakers.
Nothstein could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
With Congress out of session next week, Wild expects that she will be sworn in when federal lawmakers return to D.C. on Nov. 27. In the meantime, Wild will be working on hiring her chief of staff and district director, decisions that she'll now be making much faster than most other incoming legislators.
If she needs guidance on navigating the dual roles she's undertaking, there's another member of the delegation with whom Wild can swap advice.
Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon of Delaware County also won two contests earlier this month: the full two-year term to represent the Delaware County-based 5th District beginning in January, and a special election to serve out the term of Republican Pat Meehan, who retired early from the former 7th District.
"She and I bonded anyway, but the fact that we both had special elections brought us closer," Wild said of her friendship with Scanlon.
One small perk from their special-election victories: both Wild and Scanlon will get to pick out their congressional offices ahead of the other incoming freshmen legislators.
Scanlon took her oath of office Tuesday, an occasion that marked Pennsylvania once again having a woman in its congressional delegation. When Wild is sworn in later this month, the state's delegation will have two women _ tying the most Pennsylvania has had serving in Congress at one time.
In January, that number will double to four women out of the 18-member U.S. House delegation.
