On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) announced Nov. 2 as the special election date to fill the open state House seat previously held by state Rep. Marty Flynn (D-Lackawanna). 

Flynn bested Lackawanna County GOP Commissioner Chris Chermak, Marlene Sebastianelli, a Green Party candidate, and Nathan Covington, a Libertarian, in the special election for the state Senate’s 22nd District in Northeast Pennsylvania last month. Flynn was sworn-in as a state Senator earlier today. 

Flynn was first elected to serve the 113th state House District in 2012 by defeating incumbent state Rep. Kevin Murphy in the Democratic primary by 3 points then running unopposed in the general election. Flynn most recently won reelection for the 113th District by just under 37 points in 2020. 

According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, several potential candidates have already emerged for the chance to represent the state House District. 

The Times-Tribune report from May 18 mentioned Jack Corcoran, Patrick Flynn, Bill Fox, Robert Solfanelli, and Amber Viola as possible Democratic candidates to replace Flynn. No potential GOP candidates were mentioned in their report. 

This is currently the lone special election for the state legislature slated to take place on the same day as the state’s November election. 

The parties will pick the candidates to run in the special election.