The Pennsylvania race between Chris Deluzio and Rob Mercuri could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – All members of the U.S. House of Representatives are on the ballot next week, and control of Congress depends on who wins. A race in western Pennsylvania will help determine which party controls the House of Representatives.

Seventeen Pennsylvania congressmen are up for election this year, but only one in the Pennsylvania region is considered truly competitive: the race between Republican challenger Rob Mercuri and incumbent Democratic Congressman Chris Deluzio.

“Despite the dysfunction I've seen in Congress – the Republican majority hasn't accomplished much at all – I've done a lot for us here. “We have seen more than $2 billion returned to this district, my team has completed more than 2,000 cases for voters.”

Deluzio, a first-term congressman, says he has committed dollars to local projects, citing his work Enact railway safety laws while Mercuri, a state representative from the Pine-Richland area, says Deluzio is too liberal for the district.

“At this moment when we are completely off track economically, socially and in terms of our partisan differences, I want to be a positive, unifying voice that brings jobs back to this region, grows our economy and creates opportunities for all of us “to move forward as a country,” Mercuri said.

Voters in the 17th Congressional District, which includes many of Allegheny County's suburbs around Pittsburgh and throughout Beaver County, are deciding between two military leaders. Deluzio went to Annapolis and Mercuri went to West Point and both served in Iraq. But Mercuri says the similarity ends when it comes to policies.

“The entire agenda that he embraces is closely tied to the Bernie Sanders socialist revolution, which I think in Pittsburgh has Sara Innamorato, Ed Gainey, Chris Deluzio and Summer Lee. These are all Bernie Sanders supporters. “Mercury said.

“Are you a Summer Lee progressive?” Jon Delano of KDKA-TV asked Deluzio.

“No, that’s not me. I’m a Democrat from Chris Deluzio, a Democrat from western Pennsylvania,” Deluzio said.

“Look, I think we have very different visions for this country,” he added. “I talk a lot about these price-gouging companies having the freedom to cut costs. The same problem I see there, this overwhelming corporate power, I see in the lobbying against my railroad safety bill.”

Deluzio says Mercuri is the extremist, pointing to his voting record in the House of Representatives, particularly on abortion rights.

“He supported a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest — I mean children, for crying out loud — that would have given doctors up to seven years in prison. “He voted to amend the Pennsylvania constitution to repeal abortion rights,” Deluzio said.

“You are being portrayed as an extremist in this matter. Is that you?” Delano asked Mercuri.

“I don’t feel extreme,” he replied. “I think I'm pro-life, but I want the best for women and families and I want them to have the choice within the law to raise their families.”

“I don’t think this is a federal issue,” Mercuri added. “In this post-Dobbs, post-Roe era it should be left to the states, and I support compassionate exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.”

Delano asked Deluzio if abortion was a big issue in his district.

“I think it is,” he replied. “I think you can see it in the polls. I hear it at the doors. I’m not just talking about Democrats – Republicans, independents, people don’t want the government making these decisions for them.”

Although both candidates have similar backgrounds, there are significant policy differences between them. Whether Republicans continue to control Congress or Democrats take it back could depend on the voters of the 17th Congress.