While many people were sleeping overnight Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s political landscape changed in some significant — and historic — ways.

Here are some of the key takeaways from this year’s crucial midterm election:

Dems to hold both U.S. Senate seats

Democrat John Fetterman declared victory in his U.S. Senate race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz about 1 a.m. Wednesday, about five hours after polls closed. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was up about 4 percentage points on the celebrity surgeon.

Fetterman, the former Braddock mayor who is the sitting lieutenant governor, is poised to join U.S. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, in the Senate.

Rarely in Pennsylvania have two Democrats served together in the chamber.

It last happened from April 28, 2009, through Jan. 3, 2011, when Casey served with Republican-turned-Democratic U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. Specter did not make it out of the Democratic primary during his 2010 bid for reelection. He ultimately was replaced by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, who did not seek reelection this year.

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Before that, Democrats Francis Myers and Joe Guffey served together in the Senate for a two-year period that ended in January 1947. And Democrats William Bigler and Richard Brodhead served together for a 14-month period concluding in March 1857.

The longest run of Democrats occupying both Senate seats, excluding brief vacancies during the 12-year stretch, occurred between March 1837 and March 1849, when four Democrats — including future President James Buchanan — served as senators.

Lee makes history

Summer Lee, a Democratic state representative from Swissvale, made history Tuesday night when she won her congressional race by handily defeating her Republican opponent Mike Doyle (no, not the same Mike Doyle who represented the congressional district for the past 28 years — the latter is retiring and remains a Democrat).

With the win, Lee is poised to become the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives.

“When we are going to make history, there are always going to be barriers that come up against us,” said Lee, 34, during her victory speech. “I am so proud of the work that everyone in this movement has done.”

Third time finally a charm

It’s been nearly 70 years since any one party has held control of the governor’s office for at least three consecutive terms, and Democrats have never accomplished the feat.

That’s about to change as Democrat Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, soundly defeated Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano in Tuesday’s gubernatorial race. Shapiro is in line to replace two-term Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat from York County.

Five Republicans held the governor’s office for four straight terms from 1939 to 1955.

One of them, John C. Bell, served as a fill-in for 19 days in 1947 after Gov. Edward Martin resigned to become a U.S. senator near the end of his term. Back then, and until 1970, governors were not allowed to serve consecutive terms as governor, but Republicans managed to string together impressive runs controlling the governor’s office several times.

Before that, Republicans served as governor from 1895 to 1935 and from 1858 to 1883.

Before Wolf, Democrats had served consecutive terms on several occasions, most recently when Philadelphia’s Ed Rendell held the keys to the governor’s mansion from 2003 to 2011. But, until Tuesday, the third term had never been a charm for Dems.

State House up for grabs

Democratic state House leaders said Wednesday they were confident they could regain the majority in that chamber for the first time in 12 years.

Republicans threw cold water on that claim, with a House GOP spokesman telling The Associated Press it was premature for such predictions as Republicans were continuing to monitor several close races across the state.

The AP said Democrats would need a net pickup of 12 seats to retake the majority.

Democratic winners of three state House races in Allegheny County ultimately won’t serve out their terms.

U.S. Rep.-elect Summer Lee also appeared on the ballot as an incumbent state House candidate and was unopposed. Fellow state Rep. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport, was reelected by a 2-to-1 margin. But he also appeared on the ballot as Shapiro’s running mate and is poised to become Pennsylvania’s first Black lieutenant governor.

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, won his reelection race Tuesday by more than a 6-to-1 margin — despite the fact that he died about a month earlier. The Pennsylvania Department of State is expected to schedule a special election to fill the seat after state legislators are sworn in next year.

Turning out the vote

Voter turnout this year surpassed levels seen in recent midterm election years in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

About two-thirds of Westmoreland County’s registered voters (67.83%) cast ballots this year, compared with 59.5% in 2018 and 45.1% in 2014, online records show.

Allegheny County’s numbers weren’t as high, but they still were up significantly from eight years ago. Online records show nearly 60% of the county’s voters cast ballots this year, up from 58% in 2018 and 40.7% in 2014.

“Over the last couple of election cycles, we’ve seen an increased level of polarization. Because of that hyper-politicization and the type of politics we’re seeing, it’s an almost zero-sum game where voters are saying that, unless our side wins, democracy is at stake. It motivates a lot more voters,” Paul Adams, an associate professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, told the Tribune-Review before Election Day.

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