One of the biggest issues Deluzio took on during his first term was rail safety. His district includes Darlington Township, which is right over the Ohio border from East Palestine. The February 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train there affected his constituents, and prompted him to introduce the House version of the Railway Safety Act. The legislation would tighten safety requirements on railroads and strengthen the U.S. Department of Transportation’s oversight. It has not advanced in the House.

“I think pretty central to what I was doing here was always making it clear who I was fighting for and who I was fighting against,” Deluzio said. “I think that came through in the fight on rail safety, standing up to the railroads, having the clear economic message I had about corporate power and what it means for life being expensive, and small businesses struggling.”

But he said it was larger than just pushback against the railroad that helped him connect with voters.

“I think that in a lot of these mill towns in Beaver County and beyond, I had a pretty clear idea about how we can, number one, never go back to Wall Street and the corporate leaders stripping us for parts and outsourcing jobs and factories, and, in fact, a positive vision for what we can do to grow manufacturing and grow jobs here and get folks a shot the American dream,” which was always central to both his campaigns, he said. “[Sen.] John Fetterman and I put out our Make Stuff Here agenda a few months back, and we’re going to keep working on it.”

That was a key part of winning an election in the Rust Belt, Deluzio said.

Deluzio credited a “multi-year effort” from people across the district to build a mobilization effort and operation to turn out votes and talk to voters. The labor movement was crucial to that as well, he said.

“I’ve always said, and I said it on election night both times that I’ve won now, that you don’t win in western Pennsylvania without union workers backing you,” he added. “And I never took that support for granted. That was central to my economic pitch to voters and having a strong and vibrant labor movement is not just good for our economy and for workers, it’s how we can elect candidates who stand up for those workers.”

Deluzio was among the western Pennsylvania lawmakers who pushed the Biden administration to reject Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel, a position that Trump has said he also favors. While no fan of the president-elect, Deluzio said that may be an area where he can work with a Trump administration.

“If the president elect is going to do crazy stuff and attack people’s rights and freedoms, and do some of the things laid out in Project 2025, I’m going to fight tooth and nail on those things,” he said. “If he’s going to continue the Biden administration and his administration’s efforts to get tougher on trade, particularly with China, I will be supportive of those efforts. We need that for domestic steel manufacturing and other manufacturing. I’ll do the what I would have done in any administration, which is to stand up for my region and push back where I need to push back.”

Whether Democrats will take control of the U.S. House hinges on several races that remain too close to call as of publication time. And the race between Casey and his GOP challenger Dave McCormick is still up in the air– the Associated Press called the race for McCormick but Casey has not conceded, citing the number of votes still to be counted.

But Deluzio expressed optimism that rail safety would be a priority regardless of which party controls the House or the Senate; Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was among the co-sponsors — along with Casey and Fetterman — of the Senate version of the Railway Safety Act. And if McCormick beats Casey, Deluzio hopes to find ways to work with him as well.

“I’m going to work with whoever I need to,” he added. “But the job of delivering resources and having our senator stand up for Pennsylvania should not be a partisan one.”