Apr.24

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

Pennsylvanians Went to the Polls

Yesterday was the only really interesting election of the month, as the good people of Pennsylvania headed to the polls (or to their mailboxes) to cast their ballots. Here are the notable results:

• President: Donald Trump and Joe Biden won all of their respective parties' delegates, of course. However, continuing a trend, Trump lost considerably more votes to someone who is not in the race than Biden did. The former president took 83.5% of the vote to 16.5% for Nikki Haley, while the current president took 93.1% of the vote to 6.9% for Rep. Dean Phillips (DFL-MN). And while it's hard to ascribe too much meaning to turnout, it may be significant in such a swingy state that about 50,000 more Democrats than Republicans voted (roughly 1 million to 950,000).
  
  
• U.S. Senate: Your general election Senate race in Pennsylvania will feature Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) facing off against David McCormick (R-CT). This is an unsurprising result, since both races were uncontested.
  
  
• PA-01: Pennsylvania has six House seats that have PVIs between R+5 and D+5, and so fit the definition of "swing seat." That includes two seats that have a PVI of EVEN. PA-01 is one of the EVEN seats, and current holder Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) was challenged from the right by an anti-abortion activist named Matt Houck. Had Houck won, that would have been bad news for the Republicans. But Fitzpatrick trounced Houck 61%-39%. He'll now face off against Ashley Ehasz, a centrist and political newbie who would be the first female West Point graduate to serve in Congress, if elected.
  
  
• PA-06: This D+5 district was uncontested on both sides, so Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) already knew she was going to face Neil Young (R), who is pretty far right. Hopefully he will have time to campaign while he searches for his heart of gold.
  
  
• PA-07: Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) was unchallenged in the primary. As she tries to hold this R+2 district, she will now square off against state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R), who has built his platform around restricting abortion access. Hm, that should work out well.
  
  
• PA-08: The R+4 district was uncontested on both sides, so Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) was already aware that he'll have to fend off the new-to-politics Robert Bresnahan (R). Bresnahan is running as a blue-collar fellow whose experience as an electrician means he will bring a "jolt of energy" to Washington. What he often forgets to mention is that he's actually CEO of a large firm that employs many electricians and that he inherited from his parents and grandparents.
  
  
• PA-10: Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) had no primary challengers in his R+5 district. He's now going to match up against Janelle Stelson (D), a moderate who used to anchor one of the local news broadcasts. So, she's kind of like Kari Lake, except a Democrat. And, you know, not insane.
  
  
• PA-12: At D+8, PA-12 is not one of the six swing districts. However, squad member Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) got a challenge from the center, in the person of small-town councilwoman Bhavini Patel (D). The entire campaign was about Israel, with Patel taking a supportive stance and Lee a critical one. Lee won 61% to 39%, which is being interpreted as a sign that being Israel-skeptical isn't electoral poison these days. Lee will presumably go on to hold her seat in the general, up against unknown James Hayes (R).
  
  
• PA-17: This is the other EVEN district. Rep. Chris DeLuzio (D-PA) had no primary competition; nor did state Rep. Rob Mercuri (R-PA). Mercuri is pretty centrist, except that he's a border hawk. Because, after all, Pennsylvania has so many issues along its border with Mexico.

The only other electoral action this month is the special election in NY-26 on Apr. 30, when residents of that district will presumably choose state Sen. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) to replace Democrat Brian Higgins, who resigned to become president of Shea's Performing Arts Center. Although Kennedy is mired in a campaign finance scandal, so you never know. Then, on May 7, Indiana voters will head to the polls to nominate a bunch of Republicans who will go on to win their elections, and after that, on May 14, it's Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia. The Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Maryland will, of course, be a real barnburner. (Z)