HARRISBURG (TNS) — Rep. Bryan Cutler, current Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, will continue to lead the state House Republican caucus into the new legislative session, whether those Republicans are working from the majority or the minority.
Cutler, from Peach Bottom, was just re-elected to a ninth term in the House from his southern Lancaster County House district. In internal caucus elections Tuesday, he beat back an announced challenge from Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Greencastle, for the GOP’s top leadership post.
The still unanswered question is exactly what chair Cutler will occupy when the new session starts on Jan. 3.
As things appear now, Republicans could still hold a one-vote majority in the early stages of the new legislative term, owing to the fact that Rep. Tony DeLuca died during the fall campaign season, and Rep. Summer Lee will be sworn into a Pittsburgh-area Congressional seat on the same day.
That sets up the possibility that the Republicans could try to exercise majority control of the House through the first few months of the legislative term until replacements for DeLuca, Lee and also Lt. Gov.-elect Austin Davis — who takes his new post on Jan/ 17 — are replaced.
It’s likely Cutler will be serving as minority leader for most of the session, however, as all three of the House vacancies lie in what are considered deep blue, safe Democratic districts.
Cutler’s election provides some stability for the Republicans after a rocky election cycle in Pennsylvania that saw a landslide Democratic win in the open-seat governor’s race, and Democrats pulling off a shocking flip of what had been a 113-89 House majority.
Cutler will be the only one of the top three House Republicans from the now-ending 2021-22 session to return in a leadership role: Current House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, announced over the weekend that he would not seek a return to leadership; and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-Red Lion, is leaving the House after being defeated in the May primary election.
{p class=”krtText”}Cutler has been House Speaker since the June 2020 midterm resignation of his predecessor in that office, former Rep. Mike Turzai, a resident of the Pittsburgh suburbs who left to take a private-sector job.
{p class=”krtText”}Cutler, 47, was first elected as GOP majority leader in 2019.
{p class=”krtText”}©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
{p class=”krtShirttail”}
