The Keystone State held its Presidential primaries last night, providing us with an early look at the electorate in this crucial swing state. As always we got an eclectic array of results, so without further ado, let’s dive in!
With about 88% of precincts reporting, President Biden stood at 917,874 votes (93.1%) to Rep. Dean Phillips’ 67,926 (6.9%). Due to Pennsylvania’s vote counting methods, it will be some time before we know how many Dems cast write-in protest votes.
Conversely, in the GOP primary, former President Trump pulled in 786,239 votes (83.5%) compared to Nikki Haley’s 155,532 votes (16.5%). Haley’s total is roughly in line with what she’s received in other states since she dropped out, but it was still surprising to see her support hold strong now that these contests have become after-thoughts.
For instance, Haley’s share in the collar counties around Philadelphia captured the attention of several national observers. Additionally, Joe Biden was able to outpace Barack Obama’s 2012 and Bill Clinton’s 1996 primary totals, and Pennsylvania is one of the few states where Democratic primary turnout overall was higher than Republican primary turnout.
PA-12 and Other Congressional Races
Since both primaries in Pennsylvania’s Senate race were uncontested yesterday, most national attention focused on PA-12’s incumbent Congresswoman Summer Lee’s contest from challenger Bhavini Patel. Rep. Lee was targeted by pro-Israeli groups who considered this a particularly critical district, while fellow Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to Pittsburgh to stand by Lee.
The most critical factor in this contest, however, was the revelation that PA’s biggest Republican donor Jeffrey Yass gave $800,000 to an anti-Lee Super PAC. This information came out at the same time that reporting indicated that Yass was aiding Donald Trump’s sale of his Truth Social media site. Apparently as a result, enough Democrats rallied to Lee for her to survive this challenge.
Ultimately, with nearly all the precincts in, Lee won 63,756 votes (60.6%) to Patel’s 41,383 votes (39.4%).
Among the other Congressional primaries worth watching was the Democratic contest in the Harrisburg-based 10th District. Former TV anchor Janelle Stelson came out ahead of the pack here, winning 26,464 votes (43.9%) compared to closest competitor Michael O’Brien’s 14,034 votes (23.3%). She’ll go on to compete with GOP Rep. Scott Perry, arguably Democrats’ biggest PA Congressional target this year.
In another competitive district, Pennsylvania’s 7th, Republicans got their chosen candidate. State Rep. Ryan McKenzie secured 23,848 votes (42.3%) against Kevin Dellicker’s 19,211 votes (34.1%) and Maria Montero’s 13,287 votes (23.6%). McKenzie advances to a November match-up with Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Susan Wild.
Lastly, Republican incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick held off a conservative challenge in PA’s 1st District. With about 99% of precincts in, Fitzpatrick stands at 44,711 votes (61.4%) while Mark Houck’s received 28,064 votes (38.6%). Fitzpatrick faces a rematch against 2022 opponent Ashley Ehasz, who he beat by just under ten points.
Statewide Contests & More
Coming into tonight, the premier race was the Democratic Attorney General primary, but the results ended up being a bit anticlimactic. Former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale was the sole candidate not from Southeast PA, and that made the difference as he ran up the score while four other candidates split vote-rich SEPA.
At this moment, DePasquale has 363,662 votes (35.9%) compared to his closest competitor Delaware County DA Jack Stollsteimer and his 203,543 votes (20.1%).
Meanwhile, in the Republican Primary, party favorite York County DA David Sunday defeated State Rep. Craig Williams; 614,337 votes (70.5%) to 257,340 votes (29.5%).
Instead, the drama came from the Democratic primary in the State Treasurer’s race, where party choice State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro was upset by 2016 Congressional nominee Erin McClelland. With 86% of precincts in, McClelland has 528,970 votes (54.4%) while Bizzarro got 443,763 votes (45.6%).
Reporters will go digging for an explanation for this result, although one persuasive theory concerns Pennsylvania’s ballot, which includes the candidate’s home county. After all, McClelland’s Allegheny is far more populous than Bizzarro’s Erie.
Let’s conclude with a pair of intriguing State House results. First off, there was a special election to fill an open seat in the 139th House District, where Republican Jeff Olsommer won by a 20-point margin. Nevertheless, compared to the 2020 Presidential results here, there was a 7-point shift towards the Democrats.
Finally, State Rep. Kevin Boyle – younger brother of Congressman Brendan Boyle – lost his primary by 44 points. Boyle made headlines recently over whether he violated a protective order from his ex-wife. Moreover, Congressman Boyle revealed last week that his brother is dealing with mental health and drinking issues.
Make sure to come back to Decision Desk HQ on Tuesday night where we’ll have live election results in the New York 26th Congressional District Special and stay tuned for my day-after recap!