Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Kyle Mullins called the continued trust of voters “a humbling experience and the honor of a lifetime” after defeating Republican challenger Joseph Sabia Jr. to retain the 112th state House District seat.
Mullins, 41, who was first elected to the state House in 2018, earned a total of 18,183 votes to Sabia Jr.’s 8,688, according to unofficial results.
Mullins identified data centers, tax relief and healthcare as the three top issues facing the district heading into the election. He thanked the voters for their ongoing support during a phone interview Tuesday night.
“I know how hard I work to be accountable and accessible to my constituents,” he said. “It’s extremely gratifying … to know they understand they have a dedicated leader, representative and public servant in me. I’m grateful to them for making it loud and clear that they want leaders with a proven record of lowering costs, fighting irresponsible data center development and saturation, fighting for public education, and making communities safe and a place where I would want my children to call home and establish their roots.”
Before he was elected to the House, the Blakely resident was the legislative director in the office of state Sen. John Blake, where he worked to serve constituents, advance policy and advocate for resources for residents in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties.
The 112th District includes Carbondale, Archbald, Blakely, Dunmore, Jermyn, Jessup, Mayfield, Olyphant, Throop, Vandling, Carbondale Twp., Fell Twp. and Jefferson Twp.
State representatives serve two-year terms and earned an annual salary of about $113,591 this year.
Sabia, 53, a retired Navy veteran with more than 30 years of experience in operations management, human resources, financial oversight and organizational leadership, listed a potential data center invasion, school and property taxes, and elections as the top three issues in the district leading up to the election.
The Archbald resident formerly served as director of safety for the Topps Co. in Scranton and as a human relations specialist for Army Command before founding and becoming chief financial officer/owner of Cerberus Dynamic Solutions — an executive security and disaster relief company, where he leads the company’s strategic direction.
Mullins also said he appreciated voters putting their trust in Gov. Josh Shapiro to lead the state.
“Pennsylvanians sent a clear mandate in sending (him) back to Harrisburg,” he said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him to deliver results for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania, to continue to drive research funding into some of our most heartbreaking and neurodegenerative diseases, and making sure our area hospitals are strong and not at risk of closure — and that will require us to continue to take on private equity and get them out of the hospital business.”