Summer Lee wins 12th District race, poised to become Pa.'s first Black woman in Congress

State Rep. Summer Lee defeated Plum Councilman Mike Doyle on Tuesday night in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District and is poised to become the state’s first Black woman in Congress.

With 97% of the district’s precincts reporting results just before midnight, the Democrat Lee had collected 55.5% of the votes counted compared with 44% for the Republican Doyle, according to elections departments in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

Lee amassed 178,799 votes to Doyle’s 141,991.

The unofficial tallies showed that a total of about 320,790 votes were cast in the race, including 87,000 mail-in ballots.

“We fought, we built coalitions. We brought together people who had never worked together on campaigns,” Lee told supporters at her Election Night party in Downtown Pittsburgh. “We had … a multiracial, multigenerational movement from all over this district, from Westmoreland to the South Hills to the city of Pittsburgh to the Mon Valley.”

“When we are going to make history, there are always going to be barriers that come up against us,” Lee said. “I am so proud of the work that everyone in this movement has done.”

Doyle issued a statement around 11:30 p.m. to say that he had conceded.

“I have reached out to Congresswoman-elect Lee to congratulate her and wish her well in Congress,” Doyle said in the statement.

The newly redrawn 12th District includes Pittsburgh and suburbs in eastern and southern Allegheny County, as well as communities in western Westmoreland County. It leans heavily Democratic, with about 59% of voters registered as Democrats, 27% as Republicans and 14% as something else.

Much of the area has been represented by U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat from Forest Hills who is retiring after finishing his 14th term in Washington. The longtime congressman is not related to the Republican Doyle on this year’s ballot.

Lee, 34, won a five-candidate primary by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The Mon Valley native is seeking to become the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress. She is in her second term as a state representative in Harrisburg and also appeared on Tuesday’s ballot as an unopposed candidate for reelection to that office.

Data from the Department of State show the vast majority of this year’s requests for absentee and mail ballots — roughly 70% — came from registered Democrats, according to Tribune-Review news partner Spotlight PA. Allegheny County reported the unofficial results of the mail-in voting soon after the polls closed and they skewed heavily toward Democrats such as Lee.

As results from votes cast at polling places came in, the race tightened. Just before midnight, Doyle had collected 50.5% of the more than 234,000 in-person votes counted compared with Lee’s 49%, unofficial tallies showed. But Lee’s success with mail-in voters was too much to overcome.

At Lee’s gathering in Downtown Pittsburgh, her supporters were optimistic throughout the night — even as her early lead tightened.

“Summer’s going to win, no doubt, hands down,” said Vicki Arnett of Wilkins Township. “Summer is smart and she’s strategic.”

Jonathan Mayo of Squirrel Hill said he felt it was important to stand up for Lee as a member of the Jewish community.

United Democracy Project, a political action committee tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent nearly $1 million in the final stretch of the campaign to air ads attacking Lee. That prompted more than 240 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community to issue a public letter supporting Lee.

“I’ve never come across a political candidate who I believe in more,” Mayo said.

About 90 minutes after polls closed, Mayo said he was “cautiously optimistic.”

“Until the final numbers are in, I probably won’t be too comfortable,” he said. “I hope it will be a fairly resounding victory. The contrast between her and her opponent are so stark.”

Doyle, 57, lost bids for the state House to former state Rep. Joe Markosek in 2010 and 2012. President of Plum Council, he was unopposed in the primary.

Doyle’s campaign has claimed that Lee is too liberal, while Lee has claimed that Doyle would cut Social Security and Medicare and supports a ban on abortion.

Lee has said she would vote to codify abortion rights into law and vowed to represent working-class voters, Blacks and other marginalized groups.

Doyle has made border security a highlight of his campaign, citing the record number of illegal border crossings last fiscal year. He said he would support construction of additional walls and fences to stem the flow of people illegally entering the United States.