Anthony DeLuca, who died Oct. 9 at age 85, has emerged as the winner in the race for Pennsylvania’s 32nd state House seat, after winning a landslide majority with 85 percent of the vote.
The Pennsylvania state representative, a member of the Democratic Party, had been at the helm of the lower house seat from 1983 until his death from lymphoma, which he had previously defeated twice, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
When DeLuca died, almost a month ago, it was too late to change the ballots, so he continued to be listed as a candidate for Pennsylvania’s 32nd congressional district.
At the polls, no Republican representative ran against DeLuca. His only opponent was Green Party candidate Queonia Livingston, who received 14 percent of the vote.
«While we are incredibly saddened by the loss of Rep. Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see voters continue to show their confidence in him and their commitment to Democratic values by posthumously re-electing him,» the Democratic Campaign Committee detailed in a message on its Twitter account.
However, as the Democrats explained, a «special election» will soon take place to see who could replace him.