How Underdog Chris Thomas Flipped PA's 24th, Winning Dems The State Senate

Democrats look poised to flip four state senate seats in the midterm elections. Even after losing one, the net gain of three will give them the 26-24 majority they need to take control of all three branches of state government for just the second time in 45 years.

Without Chris Thomas, it may not have been possible.

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The 24th district, covering big portions of rural Montgomery and Berks counties, was likely the strongest GOP seat of the four that were flipped.

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Before Tuesday, it had never been won by a Democrat in its 67 year history.

But when the dust settled Tuesday, Thomas had 62,995 votes to incumbent State Sen. Pennycuick's 50,843.

Senate Democratic Campaign Committee called the result a "huge flip."

"Chris, we're so proud of the campaign you ran and the victory you earned," the Committee added. "Here's to everyone who believed in you and the community you'll represent."

Thomas a volunteer firefighter, former school teacher, and community organizer, has never held office. He did direct the campaign of Pennycuick's challenger, Jill Dennin, in 2024, bringing Democrats within a few thousand votes of flipping the seat.

Thomas obviously benefitted, as did all Democrats, from the nationwide surge to the left on Tuesday, widely seen as a rejection of President Trump's second term agenda, data center developments, and the cost of living.

See election night coverage: Dems Flip State Senate Seat In Montco Held By GOP Since 1959

And Thomas was backed on the campaign trail by the state's most prominent Democrats, including numerous campaign stops with Gov. Shapiro and Congresswoman Madeleine Dean.

But the reversal from 2022's results, about a 14,000 vote swing to the left, would seem to reflect something deeper.

Some of it may have been the grassroots organizing of which Thomas' campaign boasted. He said his team knocked on more than 200,000 doors across Montgomery and Berks counties in the lead up to election day.

"We've...had countless conversations, and built something truly special across Montgomery and Berks Counties," Thomas said Tuesday. "I'm incredibly proud of what we've accomplished together."

Some observers also pointed to Pennycuick's opposition to state funding for mass transit as a reason for the flip. While much of the 24th is rural, it also includes the Route 422 corridor and some of the region's densest, most traffic-addled development along the Schuylkill River.

Thomas' win means that all of Montgomery County is now represented by Democrats in the state senate and state legislature. Another seat that had been Republican since its inception in the 1950s, the 147th house race, remains too close to call but is currently being led by Democratic challenger Margaret Burke.