Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent — who announced last year that he wouldn’t run for reelection — now says he’ll call it quits entirely and resign in May.

So what happens next? Could there be another costly and high-stakes special election this year in the state of Pennsylvania, where Democrat Conor Lamb just beat Rick Saccone in a surprising upset?

Pennsylvania election law allows for the governor (Tom Wolf, a Democrat) announce a special election if he chooses. That announcement must come 10 days after the vacancy is official, and the election itself must be no sooner than 60 days from the date of the announcement.

If Dent resigns in May, that could possibly set up a standalone special election no earlier than July. What’s more, that special election would take place according to existing congressional district lines rather than the new ones set to take effect in the fall.

Alternatively, Wolf could chose to simply set the date to replace Dent on the same day as the general election. That’s the scenario that played out in 2016, when Rep. Chaka Fattah resigned in June and the resulting vacancy was filled a few months later in November.

It’s not yet clear what Wolf will do.

In a statement, his office said "Once Governor Wolf receives an official resignation notice with an exact date, he will make a formal decision regarding scheduling the date of a special election."

Dent himself won’t weigh in, either, telling NBC News “I’ll leave this up to the governor right now. We will see what he wants to do. It’s up to him.”

The list of House GOP departures currently stands at 42, including 23 retirements, 6 resignations and 13 members who are leaving to run for higher office.