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| Tony DeLuca |
Despite passing nearly a month ago, American lawmaker Tony DeLuca was re-elected to the Pennsylvania state house of representatives in the midterm elections.
Mr. DeLuca, a Democratic Party member who had spent 39 years in the state assembly, passed away on October 9 at the age of 85 after a battle with cancer.
When he passed away, Pennsylvania election officials realised it was too late to remove his name on the ballot, thus he continued to run for office despite having passed away.
Surprisingly, DeLuca won the Allegheny County district by defeating Green Party rival Queonia "Zarah" Livingston with more than 85% of the vote. a county where Democrats predominate.
A special election will be held soon to determine a new lawmaker for the county.
“While we’re incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by re-electing him posthumously,” Pennsylvania House Democrats said in a tweet.