CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Democratic State Rep. Brandon Dukes and Republican candidate Scott Timko are competing for Pennsylvania’s 12th House District seat in Butler County. Dukes previously won the seat in an August special election by 88 votes.
Dukes said it was thanks to voters’ desire for change.
“I think it’s been 30 years since the last Democrat who held this seat here in the district. And I think our win showed that people were just tired of the chaos coming from the top. They wanted something different,” Dukes told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
The special election victory in the Cranberry area flipped the seat from Republican to Democratic control. President Donald Trump won the district in 2024. Dukes is seeking a full term in office, while Timko is campaigning to return the seat to the Republican Party. Timko said Dukes is trying to bring “Allegheny County values” to Butler County.
“There’s a reason that this district is the fastest growing district in Pennsylvania and one of the fastest growing districts nationwide. It’s because we’ve had great success as conservative Republican government. And I don’t know anyone reasonably who would wanna change that,” Timko said.
During a conversation with Channel 11, both candidates identified the Route 228 widening project as one of their primary priorities. They also discussed the potential of bringing back skill games to the state.
“I want to see them continue to be funded,” Timko said. “Skill games, I agree, it’s gambling. Okay, but we have gambling in Pennsylvania, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t have a carve-out for some locations.”
“Hopefully we do flip the Senate’s next Tuesday and expand our majority in the House,” Dukes said. “So then, then we can actually get serious about skill games and get something out there next session.”
August’s special election got national attention when Dukes defeated Timko in a district President Donald Trump won in 2024 by 18 points. He’s hoping to continue that momentum for the midterms across the board, saying this election is a referendum on the Trump administration.
“I know we have some Republicans who are souring on everything that’s going on right now, as well as independents who are also souring,” Dukes said.
Tikmo disagreed.
“I don’t care what the polls say and everybody knows that polls really are kind of slanted and a lot of Republicans don’t even talk to pollsters for that reason, but we have a great ticket from top to bottom,” Timko said.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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