The 1991 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania was held on November 5, 1991, after incumbent Republican Senator John Heinz died in a plane crash on April 4 of that year. Democrat Harris Wofford was appointed to the seat by Governor Bob Casey, and won the general election over Republican Dick Thornburgh, a former Governor and U.S. Attorney General. Wofford became Pennsylvania's first Democratic Senator since Joseph S. Clark Jr. left office in 1969. Major-party candidates for this election were chosen by party committees, as the vacancy had happened too late for a primary to be held.
This was the first time a Democrat won this seat since 1940.
Background
Death of Senator John Heinz
On April 4, 1991, United States Senator John Heinz was killed when his Piper Aerostar propeller-driven aircraft collided in mid-air with a Bell 412 helicopter over Merion Elementary School in Lower Merion Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. All five people in both aircraft were killed. Two school children on the ground were also killed by falling debris.
Governor of Pennsylvania Bob Casey memorialized Heinz as "a distinguished and dedicated son of Pennsylvania." Heinz had been re-elected to his third term in the Senate in 1988 and the term was not set to expire until 1995. Governor Casey was empowered to appoint an interim Senator to fill the vacant seat until a successor could be duly elected in November, as required by statute. In the immediate aftermath of the Senator's death, Casey declined to name any potential replacement.
Because Heinz's death came in April, it was too late for primaries to determine the party nominees for the special election. Instead, the state party committees would determine the nominees for the special election.
Republican nomination
Candidates
Dick Thornburgh, U.S. Attorney General and former Governor of Pennsylvania
Declined
Stephen Freind, State Representative from Delaware County
Tom Ridge, U.S. Representative from Erie
After Heinz's death, the Republican Party scheduled a statewide meeting on May 11 to choose their nominee, subject to the result of a series of regional caucuses. The leading candidate was U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and parallel to Casey's struggle to find a willing appointee, Republicans struggled to get Thornburgh into the race. By the end of April, Thornburgh had not announced his intent, and at least one regional caucus was postponed.
U.S. Representative Tom Ridge announced that he would run if and only if Thornburgh declined.
Democratic nomination
Nominee
Harris Wofford, Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry
Declined appointment
Lee Iacocca, CEO of Chrysler
Thomas W. Kelly, retired Lieutenant General of the United States Army
Without an open popular vote for the nomination, Casey's appointment would almost certainly determine the Democratic nominee for the November election.
Casey offered the seat to Lieutenant General Thomas W. Kelly, who retired from active duty in April and was the public face of the popular Gulf War as head of the Pentagon's National Military Command Center. Kelly, who was born and raised in Philadelphia but no longer lived in Pennsylvania, declined.
In early May, Casey also privately offered the seat to Chrysler executive Lee Iacocca, who had elevated his political profile by criticism of President George H. W. Bush's industrial policy, with the understanding that Iacocca would immediately begin running for the special election for the remainder of Heinz's term. Iacocca, a native of Allentown who lived in the Michigan suburbs, would have had to relocate to Pennsylvania before November to stand for election.
On May 6, Iacocca publicly declined Casey's offer of appointment, citing his family and corporate obligations. After Iacocca's public withdrawal, former mayor of Philadelphia Bill Green III was considered the front-runner and a Casey aide confirmed that Green was under consideration. U.S. Representatives William H. Gray and John Murtha, Pittsburgh lawyer Art Rooney II, and Superior Court Judge Kate Ford Elliott were also mentioned as potential appointments. The sole remaining candidate who publicly expressed his interest in the role, Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel, was nixed by Casey. Appointing Singel would have elevated Senate President pro tem Robert Jubelirer, a Republican, to Singel's office.