Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti unseats U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan

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(The Center Square) – Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan won’t go back to Washington, D.C., in the new year.

Instead, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti will take the freshman lawmaker’s place after defeating him Tuesday in the race for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:41 p.m. with 94% of the vote counted. Cognetti was leading Bresnahan by 11 percentage points, 55%-44%. The victory is just one of four that Democrats hoped to secure as the party attempts to flip the U.S. House into its control.

The win comes after months of campaign fundraising hauls topping $7 million. She also featured in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s stump speeches as he sought a second term.

“You've got the power to … not just send a good and decent and honorable person to the Congress of the United States, but through Paige Cognetti, be a check on Donald Trump and end this chaos and cruelty and corruption,” Shapiro said during a rally in Luzerne County on Wednesday.   

Cognetti will join newcomer Bob Brooks, a firefighters' union leader, in the commonwealth's U.S. House delegation. Brooks defeated freshman Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, representing another seat flipped for Democrats in Congress.