In the never-ending game of musical chairs in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Reps. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) and Stephen Kinsey (D-Philadelphia) announced their resignations from the chamber.

Bullock, who represented the 195th Legislative District, and Kinsey, who represented the 201st District, stepped aside on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, leaving the Democratic caucus with 100 representatives.

Republicans also have a 100-member delegation as Rep. Joe Kerwin (R-Dauphin) continues to serve overseas as a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) called for special elections for the two seats to be conducted on Tuesday, September 17 – just seven weeks prior to the general election on November 5.

The House Democrats were quick to remind onlookers that they were still in control of the majority, citing the rules of the chamber that state:

“Majority Party” shall mean the political party that won the greater number of elections for the 203 seats in the House of Representatives in the general election preceding the term of service that began on the first day of December next after the general election. If a vacancy shall occur during the term, the political party that won that seat at the last election shall remain the party that won that seat until any subsequent special election is held to fill that seat.

Following a special election during the term, the number of elections won by each political party for the 203 seats in the House of Representatives shall be redetermined as provided in this definition. Nothing in this definition shall preclude an individual elected to hold a seat in the House of Representatives from changing their political party registration.

The House majority is not considered to be in danger, as both HD-195 and HD-201 are located in the Democratic-stronghold of the city of Philadelphia.

Bullock stepped down from her seat to become the CEO of Project HOME in Philadelphia. Kinsey announced in January that he did not plan to seek reelection but had planned to finish his term.

In a statement to USA Today, Jason Gottesman was critical of House Democrats and the call for special elections.

“Given that these members will only serve for a limited number of weeks before the General Election, the only need to hold these costly special elections at this late date is for House Democrats to continue to gerrymander the membership of the House so they can continue playing politics with the legislative agenda instead of uniting Pennsylvanians by advancing shared goals important to everyone,” Gottesman said. “We have faith in the people of Pennsylvania to hold House Democrats accountable for their continued political games and open partisanship in November.”