Democratic incumbent Chris Deluzio was declared the winner in his race against Republican challenger Rob Mercuri Tuesday night — after Deluzio himself declined to do so.
Although Deluzio was up by a 53-46 margin towards midnight, he announced around 11:20 p.m. that he would not be making an annoucnement Tuesday evening.
"We've got some ballots still to be counted," he told supporters at a Carpenters union hall. "I think we're going to win this thing. We're going to let the process play out.
"I hope we have a win to announce soon."
And in fact he did. The Associated Press declared Deluzio the winner an hour later, and shortly after he issued a statement in which he said Mercuri "offered a gracious and patriotic concession."
"I will always put the good people of Western PA and this country first."
Even before the AP call, Deluzio's campaign privately expressed confidence that the numbers were in their favor, but said the lights were set to go out in the hall at midnight.
"We feel good," Deluzio told reporters. But since he hadn't heard a call from a news agency, or from Mercuri conceding the race at the time, "We'll be respectful of the process and we're hopeful that we'll win this thing."
Mercuri could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night.
The race could help decide who controls Congress, which has implications for everything from tax policy to abortion rights. Control of the House could play a role in providing oversight of the next president, since the party who wins the majority controls the committees who oversee and sometimes investigate government operations.
While other Congressional races in the region feature incumbents on partisan friendly ground facing less-resourced challengers, the Cook Political Report has described the 17th District as one of the most balanced in the country. That’s based on voting patterns in the last two presidential elections, but also on the district’s hybrid nature, divided as it is between Beaver County — where Democrats have struggled amid deindustrialization — and Allegheny County suburbs, where Trump has antagonized many college-educated voters.
But like other pundits, the Cook report gave Deluzio the edge, describing the race as “lean Democratic,” in part because the Republicans didn’t put much national money or attention into the race.
Deluzio maintained a strong fundraising advantage over Mercuri. And in the last week of the election both the Democratic Congressional Committee and a Republican Super PAC pulled out of their ad reservations in the race, giving Deluzio’s 2-to-1 spending advantage.
Deluzio, of Fox Chapel, served in the minority party during his first term — a time when Republicans, who held a very narrow majority, struggled to select a Speaker of the House and pass basic appropriations bills. Deluzio spent significant time emphasizing constituent services and trying to bring home federal money for local projects.
Abortion was the only major disagreement to hit the airwaves. Deluzio ran an ad attacking Mercuri for supporting a “fetal heartbeat” bill that would restrict abortion as a state legislator: Mercuri pledged that he wouldn’t support a national abortion ban as a congressman.
Mercuri, a resident of Pine Township, cited other aspects of his tenure in the state legislature: He touted his support for increased funding for schools, and backing education causes with bipartisan appeal in the district. Mercuri ran for his more conservative-leaning seat in the state legislature as a strong pro-life conservative, but tried to emphasize issues with cross-party appeal in this election.
In a district filled with suburbanites dubious about Trump, Mercuri rarely mentioned his own party’s standard bearer and didn’t attend Trump rallies. Mercuri said he would govern in a more civil tone than Trump, but didn’t draw any contrasts with Trump’s policies or say how he might check Trump’s power.
One major issue Mercuri disagreed with Trump on publicly was the sale of U.S. Steel. Mercuri supported the sale to Nippon Steel, while Deluzio and Trump both opposed it. Mercuri sided with local business groups in Pittsburgh and Deluzio sided with the United Steelworkers Union. That difference arguably mirrored their backgrounds: Mercuri used to work as an executive at PNC and Deluzio helped organize a union at Pitt.
Deluzio has made a concerted, if thus far unsuccessful, effort to push a law that would improve rail safety after a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio released toxic chemicals. Mercuri said he supported a similar measure at the state level.
While both candidates sought to portray themselves as moderates, each sought to tie the other to more extreme elements in their party. Deluzio attacked Mercuri for receiving financial support from Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group; Mercuri faulted Deluzio to members of a caucus of progressive Democrats in the House, including local Congresswoman Summer Lee. Deluzio was a member of that caucus, but did notably few events with Lee.
The candidates never argued over such concerns directly: They never managed to agree on a debate forum, though both did appear for separate media interviews and spoke with WESA about the dynamics of their race. Voters will decide the head-to-head contest between them tonight.
