November 3, 2021
Pennsylvania's Key 2021 Election Results From Bellevue's Julie Platt
Last night, Pennsylvania citizens went to the polls to vote for statewide judicial candidates and down-ballot races for mayor, county council, and other row offices. Democratic and Republican voter turnout was higher than in 2017 for candidates at the top of the ticket. Below, you will find a compiled report by Bellevue's associate Julie Platt, detailing the key election results in the state. Overall, Republicans won big on the ballots in Pennsylvania and claimed the high-profile governor's race in Virginia. The country tends to move away from the president's party in the year after a presidential
election, history shows, and this was likely the case in Pennsylvania, according to analysts. Statewide, we've yet to see what the voter turnout looked like — but in Philadelphia, about 18.4% of registered voters turned out to cast their ballots. Yesterday's election sets the stage for the high stakes 2022 races when the governor's seat and U.S. Senate seat will be up for grabs. For now, here's the breakdown: Statewide Judicial Elections: At the top of the ticket, Democrats lost all four of the statewide judicial elections. At the top of the ticket, Republican Supreme Court candidate Kevin Brobson currently has a 5-point lead over Democrat Maria McLaughlin. Judge Brobson has been a judge on the lower statewide Commonwealth Court for the last ten years. In recent years, Brobson has handled critical cases on guns and elections, including penning a congressional redistricting decision that overturned the Democratic-majority Supreme Court in 2018. Democrats will keep a 5-2 majority on the court. Democrats won two special elections for state representatives. Thom Welby won an open Scranton-area seat, while Gina Curry won the other seat in Delaware County. County Races: Bucks County: At the top of the ticket, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub won a tight race against his Democratic challenger, Antoneta Stancu. He won the seat in 2017. Republicans also won for county sheriff and were able to win back row offices-- sheriff, prothonotary, controller, and recorder of deeds—lost to Democrats four years ago. Delaware County: Democrats held onto two of the five-person Delaware County Council seats after winning them in 2017. The current makeup of the County Council will continue to be run by Democrats. Northampton County: A county that flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020 will continue to be led by incumbent Democratic County Executive Lamon McClure. Erie County: Republican Brenton Davis declared victory with a roughly 4,500-vote lead over Democrat Tyler Titus in the County Executive race. Davis will be the first Republican to hold the office in nearly 20 years. Erie was the other country that flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020. Allegheny County: All ten Democratic judges for the Commonwealth Court won their election with sustainable margins. Democrats also dominated early results in four contested races for Magisterial District Court across the county.
City Races: Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh elected its first Black Mayor, State Representative Ed Gainey. Philadelphia: District Attorney Larry Krasner won his race to secure a second term as Philadelphia lead prosecutor. Other Noteworthy Election Results: Lebanon Co. picks its first Latina magisterial district judge . Democratic candidate for magisterial district judge Aurelis Figueroa won the seat, beating Republican candidate James Capello 654-637. Allentown elects first Hispanic mayor; rejects removal of Englishonly charter provision. Democrat Matt Tuerk, the grandson of Cuban immigrants, won 8,098 votes – 64% of total votes cast, unofficial tallies showed. City residents voted 6,695-3,624 to reject the ballot question that would have removed language in the city charter, making English the city’s official language. However, many individuals point out that the ballot question was extremely vague, asking only if “Shall paragraph B of Section 101 of the City of Allentown Home Rule Charter be removed from the Charter?” This may have resulted in the measure being defeated. Democrats edging out Republicans for Camp Hill school board and borough races Democrats in Camp Hill, a borough in Dauphin County, elected four Democratic women to the Borough County council. Camp-Hill will now have an all-female council (six Democrats and one Republican) in January 2022 while being led by Borough Manager Sara Gibson.