Mary Gay Scanlon will win Pennsylvania House district, a gain for Dems

Matt Rourke | AP

Democratic congressional candidate Mary Gay Scanlon during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. 

Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon will win the race for Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District, defeating GOP candidate Pearl Kim, NBC News projects.

Scanlon, who beat out nine other Democrats in the primary, was heavily favored to win the district, which was re-formed after the heavily gerrymandered Pennsylvania map was ordered to be redrawn.

The GOP-friendly, horseshoe-shaped 7th District covered much of the area replaced by the rounder, more compact version of the 5th District in which Scanlon and Pearl campaigned.