By Fred Kraybill, Co-Chair, Political Committee, Allegheny Group
In July of this year, the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club voted to endorse Brandon Dukes for Pennsylvania House District 12 (Cranberry/Mars/Zelienople, north of Pittsburgh) in a special election that was scheduled for August 18th. The Republican incumbent had resigned at the end of March. At first glance, this race seemed like a long shot because it was a Trump +18 district. On the other hand, this would be a low-turnout special election with no incumbent, and the mood of the voters was not good due to rising prices, especially energy costs. Brandon felt the election was winnable with a focus on affordability, fixing local infrastructure, and supporting public education. He already had experience running for the Cranberry Township Supervisor, a race which he narrowly lost.
For a long time, I’ve been interested in seeing climate-related legislation pass in Pennsylvania, and it seems like the only way that can happen is to get a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate and by retaining Josh Shapiro as Governor. I was excited to support the Dukes campaign because it was an opportunity to add another Democrat to the Pennsylvania House, which meant more support for Pennsylvania Climate bills like PRESS and Community Energy.
I supported the Dukes campaign by door-knocking, and on the day of the election, I was outside one of the polling locations greeting voters. As election day wore on, I noticed my Republican counterpart at the polling place was getting a lot more thumbs-up and nods than I was as the voters streamed in. Did this mean that Brandon would lose? But then after 8 pm when the polling results were posted on the door, it showed that Brandon had only lost at that location by 12 votes out of 597, with a lot of mail-in ballots still to be counted. At that point, I knew it would be a close race.
Many people were surprised by Brandon’s 88-vote win in this election, and it certainly gave a ringing endorsement to the old adage, “every vote counts”. I think it’s also proof that door knocking can be an important part of a winning campaign. I encountered voters while door knocking who didn’t even know there was a special election coming up, and another door knocker on our team encountered a voter who didn’t think he could vote in the Special Election because he was registered as an Independent. It made me wonder how many people would wake up on August 18th not knowing about the election.
Every piece of literature left at the door, every undecided voter introduced to Brandon, every sign left in a yard of a willing voter was part of an overall effort by the Dukes campaign. By election day, the Duke campaign had knocked on well over 10,000 doors. The Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club believes we can win more Pennsylvania House seats like this.
This blog was included as part of the September 2026 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!