Yesterday was Primary Election Day in the Keystone State and key races included the gubernatorial primaries as well as Congressional primaries for newly drawn districts. Read on for how things shook out.
Gubernatorial Primary
State Senator Scott Wagner (SD-28, York) won the Republican nomination for Governor. He defeated Laura Ellsworth and Paul Mango. Wagner will face Governor Tom Wolf (D) in the general election.
As for the number two spot, Braddock Mayor John Fetterman defeated Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack (D) yesterday; Fetterman will join Wolf to face off against Wagner and Jeffrey Bartos (R) in the general election.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Though the entire 203-member House of Representatives is up for reelection this year, only about a quarter of those seats were in play in yesterday’s Primary Election. The rest had no primary opponent, and some of them may get a pass in November too, having no opposition in the general election.
Of yesterday’s races, most were due to the retirement of incumbent members. Six Democrats will retire at the end of this term; here’s who will square off in the fall to replace them:
- Tim Kuzma (R) will face Robert Merski (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Flo Fabrizio (HD-2, Erie)
- Stephen Schlauch (R) will face Brandon Markosek (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Joe Markosek (HD-25, Allegheny)
- Stephanie Borowicz (R) will face Michael Hanna Jr. (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Mike Hanna (HD-76, Clinton)
- Ernest Lemoncelli (R) will face Kyle Mullins (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Kevin Haggerty (HD-112, Lackawanna)
- Thomas Street (R) will face Malcolm Kenyatta (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Curtis Thomas (HD-181, Philadelphia)
- Elizabeth Fielder (D) will replace Rep. Bill Keller (HD-184, Philadelphia). Fielder is truly a shoe-in, as she faces no opposition in the fall.
Nineteen Republican members are set to retire at the end of this year as well. Candidates for 16 of those seats are as follows:
- Michael Puskaric (R) will face Robert Rhoerick (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Rick Saccone (HD-39, Allegheny)
- Natalie Stuck (R) will face Sharon Guidi (D) in the general election to replace Rep. John Maher (HD-40, Allegheny)
- Valerie Gaydos (R) will face Michele Knoll (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Mark Mustio (HD-44, Allegheny)
- George Szekely (R) will face Steven Malagari (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Bob Godshall (HD-53, Montgomery)
- Robert Brooks (R) will face Jonathan McCabe (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Eli Evankovich (HD-54, Westmoreland)
- James Struzzi (R) will face Logan Dellafiora (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Dave Reed (HD-62, Indiana)
- Amber Turner (R) will face Joshua Maxwell (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Harry Lewis (HD-74, Chester)
- James Gregory (R) will face Laura Burke (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Judith Ward (HD-80, Blair)
- Jonathan Hershey (R) will face Kimberly Hart (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Adam Harris (HD-82, Juniata)
- Paul Jones (R) will face Meggan O’Rourke (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill (HD-93, York)
- Andrew Lewis (R) will face Eric Epstein (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Ron Marsico (HD-105, Dauphin)
- Joseph Flood (R) will face Timothy Brennan (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Marguerite Quinn (HD-143, Bucks)
- Todd Polinchock (R) will face Meredith Buck (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Kathy Watson (HD-144, Bucks)
- Patty Kozlowski (R) will face Joseph Hoenstein (D) in the general election to replace Rep. John Taylor (HD-177, Philadelphia)
- Vincent Cockley (R) will face Matthew Nelson (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Will Tallman (HD-193, Adams)
- Barbara Gleim (R) will face Joseph McGinnis (D) in the general election to replace Rep. Stephen Bloom (HD-199, Cumberland)
Yesterday’s Primary sealed the deal for a few lucky newbies, who will face no opposition in the fall. We know as of now that we’ll see these new members in January:
- Joshua Kail (R) will replace Rep. Jim Christiana (R) (HD-15, Beaver)
- Louis Schmitt (R) will replace Rep. John McGinnis (R) (HD-79, Blair)
- David Delloso (D) will replace Rep. Nick Miccarelli (HD-162, Delaware), flipping this seat from Republican to Democrat.
And while we expect plenty of retirements, we’ve already seen a few, so yesterday’s primary election was also a special election for some seats:
- HD-48 (Washington): Timothy O’Neal (R) will hold the seat formerly held by Rep. Brandon Neuman (D) until the end of the term, flipping the seat from Democrat to Republican. O’Neal will then face Clark Mitchell (D) in the general election.
- HD-68 (Bradford, Potter, Tioga): Clinton Owlett (R) will hold the seat formerly held by Rep. Matt Baker (R) until the end of the term, and will then face Carrie Heath (D) in the general election.
- HD-178 (Bucks): Helen Tai (D) will hold the seat formerly held by Rep. Scott Petri (R) until the end of the term, flipping the seat from Republican to Democrat. Tai will then face Wendi Thomas (R) in the general election
Every election brings a few upsets, and yesterday the Pennsylvania House of Representatives had three:
- HD-21 (Allegheny): Sara Innamorato (D) defeated Rep. Dom Costa (D) in the primary election. She will go on to serve in the House next session because there is no Republican candidate in the general election.
- HD-34 (Allegheny): Summer Lee (D) defeated Rep. Paul Costa (D) in the primary election. She will go on to serve in the House next session because there is no Republican candidate in the general election.
- HD-197 (Philadelphia): Danilo Burgos (D) defeated Rep. Emilo Vazquez (D) in the primary election. He will go on to serve in the House next session because there is no Republican candidate in the general election.
Pennsylvania Senate
25 of 50 State Senators will run for reelection this year. Of them, only five races were in play yesterday.
The Senate will have four open seats at the end of this term due to retirements. Below are the candidates for those races in the fall:
- Marguerite Quinn (R) will face Steve Santarisero (D) in the general election to replace Sen. Chuck McIlhinney (SD-10, Bucks)
- Stewart Greenleaf Jr. (R) will face Maria Collett (D) in the general election to replace Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (SD-12, Montgomery)
- Kristin Phillips-Hill (R) will face Judith McCormick (D) in the general election to replace Sen. Scott Wagner (SD-28, Bucks)
- Judith Ward (R) will face Emily Best (D) in the general election to replace Sen. John Eichelberger (SD-30, Blair)
Additionally, only one State Senator faced a primary opponent yesterday and was defeated by his opponent:
- SD-38 (Allegheny): Jeremy Shaffer (R) defeated Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R) in the general election. He will face Lindsey Williams (D) in the general election.
Congressional Races
Pennsylvania’s Congressional races made national news this year, as our maps were drawn and re-drawn in a series of court cases. The following are the candidates for the new districts:
- PA-1 (Bucks, Montgomery): Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) will face Henry Wallace (D) in the general election
- PA-2 (Philadelphia): Rep. Brendan Boyle (D) will face David Torres (R) in the general election
- PA-3 (Philadelphia): Rep. Dwight Evans (R) will face Bryan Leib (R) in the general election
- PA-4 (Bucks, Montgomery): Daniel David (R) will face Madeleine Dean (D) in the general election
- PA-5 (Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia): Pearl Kim (R) will face Mary Gay Scanlon (D) in the general election
- PA-6 (Berks, Chester): Gregory McCauley (R) will face Christina Houlahan (D) in the general election
- PA-7 (Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton): Martin Nothstein (R) will face Susan Wild (D) in the general election
- PA-8 (Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne): Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D) will face John Chrin (R) in the general election
- PA-9 (Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill): Dan Meuser (R) will face Dennis Wolff (D) in the general election
- PA-10 (Cumberland, Dauphin, York): Rep. Scott Perry (R) will face George Scott (D) in the general election
- PA-11 (Lancaster, York): Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R) will face Jessica King (D) in the general election
- PA-12 (Bradford, Centre, Clinton, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union): Rep. Tom Marino (R) will face Marc Friedenberg (D) in the general election
- PA-13 (Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Somerset, Westmoreland): John Joyce (R) will face Brent Ottaway (D) in the general election
- PA-14 (Fayette, Greene, Washington, Westmoreland): Guy Reschenthaler (R) will face Bibiana Boerio (D) in the general election
- PA-15 (Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Venango, Warren): Rep. Glenn Thompson (R) will face Susan Boser (D) in the general election
- PA-16 (Butler, Crawford, Erie, Lawrence, Mercer): George Kelly (R) will face Ronald Dinicola (D) in the general election
- PA-17 (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler): Rep. Keith Rothfus (R) will face Rep. Conor Lamb (D) in the general election
- PA-18 (Allegheny): Rep. Michael Doyle (D) won the primary election and does not face a challenger in the general election
U.S. Senate
Finally, in the U.S. Senate race, Congressman Lou Barletta (R) defeated state Representative Jim Christina (HD-15, Beaver) in the primary election. Barletta will face Bob Casey (D) in the general election.