Anti-woman Republican who won in a landslide is losing his lead

Democrat Emily Skopov is taking on Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R) and is within 5 percentage points of him according to a poll from GBA Strategies.

Turzai won the race in the 28th House District by over 30 points in 2016, and Trump won by 9 points.

In recent years the district has been trending Democratic. Hillary Clinton received more votes there than President Barack Obama did in 2012, and Trump’s margin of victory was lower than Mitt Romney’s.

In a statement, Skopov said, “This poll shows we can defeat Mike Turzai because voters disagree with his belief that our children have no right to an equal education, and they are sick of his obsession with controlling women’s bodies.”

Skopov is a vocal opponent of Turzai’s backing of “school choice” legislation that would put public schools at a disadvantage with decreased funding, hurting the students in those schools.

Turzai, the top elected official in the Pennsylvania House, has also tried to push an abortion ban. On her website, Skopov notes that she “will fight for increased funding for Planned Parenthood” and “oppose any effort to restrict a woman’s right to choose.”

By contrast, Turzai recently sponsored legislation that would have banned abortions. Turzai even attempted to slip his legislation into a bill designed to help the victims of sex trafficking.

Sari Stevens, executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates said in a statement, “I’m not sure you could get a better example of the dirty underbelly of politics.”

Turzai was also part of the disingenuous right-wing frenzy that pushed for investigations of Planned Parenthood based on fraudulent videos.

Skopov concluded, “My opponent is too partisan and out of touch with North Hills voters, while I am committed to working with both Republicans and Democrats to solve the many serious problems we face.”

After immersing himself right-wing initiatives out of touch with voters and families in his district, Turzai now has a challenger who is much more in sync with voters.

And she is inching closer to victory.