Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania voters have had their say in the 2018 midterm elections. The Lehigh Valley has elected its first woman to Congress, and a longtime state senator is locked in a tight race, according to unofficial returns.
Here is a roundup of the latest election-night developments and analysis:
9 Democrats, 9 Republicans headed to Congress from PA
Two years ago, Pennsylvania sent 13 Republicans and five Democrats to Congress.
In January, the state is poised to have an evenly split delegation on Capitol Hill.
The state Supreme Court order tossing Pennsylvania’s old congressional boundaries set the stage for a political realignment, along with several retirements of Republican incumbents in eastern Pennsylvania.
Four of the newly elected federal lawmakers are women, the most that Pennsylvania has had in Congress at one time and a significant change from the former all-male delegation.
Lehigh Valley sending its first woman to Congress, but tight special election results (11:45 p.m.)
Democrat Susan Wild becomes the Lehigh Valley’s first female member of Congress.
The Associated Press called the 7th Congressional District at 10:15 p.m. With 93 percent of precincts reporting in the newly configured 7th District, Wild had 53.4 percent to Republican Marty Nothstein’s 43.6 percent.
Libertarian Tim Silfies has 3.0 percent in the congressional race. The district covers Lehigh, Northampton and part of southern Monroe counties.
Wednesday morning, it remained unclear whether Nothstein or Wild was elected to finish the remainder of former Congressman Charlie Dent’s term, which runs through the end of the year. County web sites and The Associated Press showed different vote counts. One put Nothstein ahead, the other Wild.
That special election was held in the former 15th Congressional District, which included Lehigh County and parts of Northampton, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin counties.
State Sen. Pat Browne survives strong Democratic challenge
State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, was in a neck-and-neck race most of Tuesday night against challenger Mark Pinsley, a South Whitehall Township commissioner and businessman, according to unofficial results.
Browne then pulled away as the clock ticked toward midnight.
With all precincts reporting, Browne eked out a win by less than 3 percentage points, unofficial results show. He got 51 percent of the vote (46,879) compared to Pinsley’s 49 percent (44,256).
Browne, 54, has been a state lawmaker since 1994, starting in the House, and he now chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Pinsley, 48, who owns the skin care business DermaMed Solutions, was elected last year to the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners.
The 16th District includes Allentown and Heidelberg, Lower Macungie, Lower Milford, Lowhill, Lynn, North Whitehall, South Whitehall, Upper Macungie, Upper Milford, Washington and Weisenberg townships, as well as Alburtis, Coopersburg, Macungie and Slatington boroughs.
Casey wins third term in Senate (9:07 p.m.)
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey will head back to Capitol Hill in January to begin a third six-year term, with the Associated Press calling the race shortly after 9 p.m.
Casey had led Republican challenger and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta in fundraising and public polls. Barletta was one of President Donald Trump’s earliest campaign supporters and was encouraged by the president to challenge Casey. Trump headlined rallies and fundraisers for Barletta in Wilkes-Barre and Erie, but Barletta received little help from outside groups, which focused on more competitive Senate contests.
The typically soft-spoken Casey has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration, and stated his opposition to Trump’s recent pick for the Supreme Court even before the nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was announced.
Also on the ballot were two third-party candidates, Libertarian Dale Kerns and Green Party candidate Neal Gale.
Wolf re-elected to governor’s office (9:09 p.m.)
Gov. Tom Wolf has won a second term, resuming the pattern of two-term governors that the Democrat had broken when he defeated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett four years ago. The Associated Press called the race shortly after 9 p.m.
Wolf had led Republican challenger Scott Wagner, a former state senator who owns a trash and recycling company, by double-digits in public polling throughout the race. Outspent and besieged by critical campaign ads, Wagner resorted at times to bombast, including a Facebook post vowing to stomp on Wolf’s face with golf spikes on his way to winning the election. He apologized shortly afterward.
Also on the ballot were Libertarian candidate Ken Krawchuk and Green Party candidate Paul Glover.
Trump on the minds of Pa. voters (8:30 p.m.)
Two-thirds of Pennsylvania voters said Trump was a factor they considered while casting their vote while one-third said the president didn’t influence their decision. That’s based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 135,000 voters and nonvoters — including 3,890 voters and 806 nonvoters in the state of Pennsylvania.
Voters in Pennsylvania have a positive outlook on the nation’s economy, with two-thirds saying it’s in good shape. But they took a different turn when it comes to the direction of the nation. Nearly 6 in 10 think the country is on the wrong track.
The polls are now closed (8 p.m.)
It’s 8 p.m. and another election, one that appears to have unusually high turnout for a midterm, is in the books for Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley voters.
Locally, voters were choosing the Valley’s first new representative in Congress in nearly 14 years in the hotly contested race for Pennsylvania’s 7th District between Democrat Susan Wild, Republican Marty Nothstein and Libertarian Tim Silfies.
Also on the ballot were the governor’s race, with Democratic incumbent Gov. Tom Wolf faced Republican challenger Scott Wagner, and Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey and Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta.
The results in the congressional races across Pennsylvania are likely to help decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. The state could also send a record number of women to Capitol Hill.
Races being decided today
U.S. Senate: Bob Casey, incumbent (D) vs. Lou Barletta (R)
U.S. Congress, 7th District: Susan Wild (D) vs. Marty Nothstein (R) vs. Tim Silfies (L)
PA Governor/Lt. Gov: Tom Wolf, incumbent/John Fetterman (D) vs. Scott Wagner/Jeff Bartos (R) vs. Paul Glover/Jocolyn Bower-Bostick (G) vs. Ken Krawchuk/Kathleen Smith (L)
PA Senate
16th District: Mark Pinsley (D) vs. Pat Browne, incumbent (R).
40th District: Tarah Probst (D) vs. Mario Scavello, incumbent (R) vs. Adam Reinhardt (L).
PA House
131st District: Andy Lee (D) vs. Justin Simmons, incumbent (R)
134th District: Tom Applebach (D) vs. Ryan Mackenzie, incumbent (R)
137th District: Amy Cozze (D) vs. Joe Emrick, incumbent (R) vs. Ed Reagan (L).
138th District: Dean Donaher (D) vs. Marcia Hahn, incumbent (R) vs. Jake Towne.
183rd District: Jason Ruff (D) vs. Zach Mako, incumbent (R)
187th District: Michael Blichar Jr. (D) vs. Gary Day, incumbent (R)
Special Election: U.S. Congress, 15th District (to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Charlie Dent): Susan Wild (D) vs. Marty Nothstein (R) vs. Tim Silfies (L)
Northampton County Ballot Question: Should the county’s home rule charter be amended to allow the county controller to also engage in another business or occupation?
