FILE - A cyclist rides past the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., on March 22, 2021.

In one stroke, all the Republican Party’s hopes to change the Pennsylvania constitution could be dashed.

In the aftermath of the Nov. 8 election, most attention was directed toward key U.S. Senate and House races, which left the GOP and Democrats each with narrow control of one congressional chamber. A surprise win in Harrisburg for the Democrats, however, could have at least as much impact on Pennsylvanians’ lives.

Votes were still being counted — and disputed — late last week. But a win in suburban Philadelphia made certain that Democrats would hold a razor-thin majority in the state House, leaving the General Assembly divided alongside Democratic governor-elect Josh Shapiro.

Republicans have enjoyed nearly unbroken control of the state Legislature since the early 1990s, letting their party set much of the state’s political agenda. The only brake since 2015 has been Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto.

In the past three years, however, GOP lawmakers have worked to avoid Wolf’s veto by instead passing constitutional amendments. Those can’t be vetoed; instead, they must pass both chambers in two consecutive sessions before being turned over to the voters for a ballot referendum.

Wolf’s opponents won an initial victory in 2021, when primary voters approved amendments to limit the governor’s disaster powers and allow lawmakers to terminate emergency declarations. The votes followed complaints by GOP officials that Wolf’s pandemic response was too strict.

With the floodgates opened, Republican lawmakers soon moved to enshrine many of their goals in the state’s highest document.

Just this summer, legislators advanced amendments to require voter ID, give themselves a veto over all regulations and declare there’s no right to abortion in Pennsylvania.

Those efforts would grind to a halt with Democrats in control of half the Legislature, leaving little opportunity for either party to advance amendments.

Even if GOP lawmakers managed to push through legislation, Shapiro appears set to use his veto pen on a range of issues. During the campaign, the then-candidate for governor vowed to veto any bill that threatens abortion rights, makes voting more difficult or establishes a “right to work” policy that would weaken labor unions.

Dems hold rare Senate win

In Washington, too, Democrats have won a rare victory: Next year, for the first time since the 1940s, both Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators will have been elected from the party.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is set to join Sen. Bob Casey, R-Scranton, in the nation’s capital after beating physician Mehmet Oz for the seat vacated by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. The last time two Democrats were elected to those seats was 1944 — and before that, before the Civil War.

The party briefly controlled both seats during Barack Obama’s administration, after Pennsylvania’s then-senator Arlen Specter switched parties to join the Democratic majority. 

Casey celebrated after the election, tweeting: “I told my team I wasn’t going to crack open a beer this year … but then you sent a Democrat to join me in Washington.”