How Chester County Voted in the Primary

By

A double rainbow greeted voters a few hours before the polls closed in Parkesburg.

Yesterday 140,825 Chester County residents filed into precincts to take part in an unusually important primary. Their reward? Plenty of rain, a few rainbows, and a small dose of drama.

Here are the takeaways:

Donald Trump carried every county in PA, yet the Trump vote (~46%) was less than the Not Trump vote (~50%) in Chester County.

Chester County’s own Katie McGinty delivered a big upset to Delco’s Joe Sestak. The former Navy Admiral had effectively been campaigning for the democratic senate nomination since losing to Pat Toomey in 2010.

Voter participation was pretty even in Chester County: ~46% Democrat, ~51% Republican.

Every candidate endorsed by President Barack Obama won last night, including Attorney General hopeful Josh Shapiro. Get ready for more radio ads from the president as November looms.

Around four times the number of people who turned out for the primary in 2014 cast ballots yesterday. Voters love general election years.

The suspense isn’t over. We are still waiting to hear which republican candidate will face off against Susan Rzucidlo in the 158th. Two young Republicans, Perry Bentley and Eric Roe, launched write-in campaigns after a judge’s decision left Republicans without a candidate on the ballot. We’ll keep you posted on that.

Update: Perry Bentley has conceded in the race for the 158th nomination.

Here’s how folks voted in Chester County (winners in bold):

Democratic Presidential Primary
Hillary Clinton: 55.2%
Bernie Sanders: 43.59%

Republican Presidential Primary
John Kasich: 31.11%
Donald J. Trump: 46.39%
Ted Cruz: 19.55%

US Senate Democratic Primary
John Fetterman: 6.85%
Joe Sestak: 41.69
Katie McGinty: 50.61

(Incumbent Pat Toomey (R) ran unopposed in his party’s primary.)

Attorney General Republican Primary
Joe Peters: 18.05%
John Rafferty: 81.54%

Attorney General Democratic Primary
Josh Shapiro: 69.04%
Stephen A. Zappala, Jr.: 21.91%

US 6th District
Mike Parrish (D) will face Congressman Ryan Costello (R) in November. Both ran unopposed in their primaries.

US 7th District
Mary Ellen Balchunis (D): 39.90%
Bill Golderer (D): 59.61%

Although Golderer did really well in Chester County, Balchunis will face Congressman Pat Meehan (R) in November. Meehan ran unopposed in the primary.

US 16th District
Christina Hartman (D) Unopposed

Chet Beiler (R): 57.9%
Lloyd K. Smucker (R): 40.93%

Beiler and Smucker ran a close race to replace Joe Pitts as the republican choice for the 16th congressional district. Last November, Pitts announced he wouldn’t seek reelection after about 20 years in congress.

Special Election: PA Senate 9th
Marty Molloy (D): 9, 546
Thomas Killion (R): 13,819

PA Senate 19th
Andrew Dinniman (D) will face Jack London (R) in November.

Pa House 13th
Nancy Dean (D) will face John Lawrence (R) in November.

PA House 26th
Tim Hennessey (R) will face no ballot opposition in November.

Pa House 74th
Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell (D) will face incumbent Harry Lewis (R) in November.

PA House 155th
James J. Burns (D) will face incumbent Becky Corbin (R) in November.

PA House 156th
Carolyn Comitta (D) will face incumbent Dan Truitt (R) in November.

PA House 157th
Hans Van Mol (D) will face Warren Kampf (R) in November.

PA House 158th
Susan F. Rzucidlo (D) will face Eric Roe (R) in November.

PA House 160th
Stephen Barrar (R) will face no ballot opposition in November.

PA House 167th
Joe Denham (D) will face Duane Milne (R) in November.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe to stay informed!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
VT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement
Creative Capital logo