Voting in the presidential primary wrapped up in Pennsylvania on Tuesday evening, with traffic at polling stations reflecting a low voter turnout. Polling data indicates that voters are not particularly enthused by their choices. One challenge for President Joe Biden is the number of write-in votes, many of which stem from a grassroots movement concerned about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Uncommitted PA coalition announced on its website Tuesday night that the campaign had exceeded its goal of 40,000 total write-ins for the Democratic President in the Primary, with over 57,951 votes so far. This number is likely to grow as tallies are finalized. In a state where Trump and Biden won by only 44,000 and 80,000 votes, respectively, this could impact the general election.
Former President Donald Trump also experienced clear dissatisfaction among Republican primary voters. More than 150,000 cast their support for Nikki Haley, who dropped out early last month but still appeared on the ballot. She ended up with nearly 17% across the state, bringing Trump’s share of the vote down to 83%. By comparison, Trump won 92% of the primary vote in 2020 and went on to lose to Biden. Some of Trump’s weakest performances were in the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia, where Haley won more than 20% of the vote.
It’s been a long time since so few Philadelphia residents turned out for a presidential primary election. Only 17.7% of registered voters cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election, or just 183,538 of the city’s more than one million eligible voters, according to unofficial results from the City Commissioners. This is a little more than half of the percentage who turned out four years ago to pick Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination or to endorse Donald Trump’s ultimately unsuccessful reelection bid atop the Republican ticket.
A form Pennsylvania voters must complete on the outside of mail-in ballot return envelopes has been redesigned, but that did not prevent some voters from failing to complete it accurately for this week’s primary. Some votes will not count as a result, election officials said. The primary was the first use of the revamped form on the back of return envelopes that was unveiled late last year amid litigation over whether ballots are valid when they arrive to be counted inside envelopes that do not contain accurate, handwritten dates.
When Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign, she refused to endorse Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Haley won almost 17% of Pennsylvania’s primary vote Tuesday, or 1 in 6 votes, to Trump’s 83%, despite not campaigning for president since she ended her bid in early March. Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes up for grabs in the presidential election make it a premier battleground state. Should those Haley GOP voters refuse to support Trump in November, it could prove a damaging blow to his prospects for victory in the state and possibly reelection.
Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking state House Republican has survived a formidable primary challenge from the right, heading off what would have been a big shakeup in Harrisburg. Elsewhere in the state, the Democratic party establishment got its way with the ouster of a northeast Philadelphia representative who has been absent from the Capitol and is, according to his family, dealing with a mental health condition.
A ballot question asking voters if the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter should be amended to require the city to help registered community organizations (RCOs) pay the costs of lawsuits was approved by voters Tuesday. RCOs provide input when a landowner requests an exception from standard zoning rules, called a variance. RCOs have faced lawsuits related to their participation in the variance request process. A statement from the city government on the ballot question says these “can be costly and limit community input.”
Incumbent Kevin Boyle lost his primary bid for the Pennsylvania House to Sean Dougherty, who was backed by Boyle’s colleagues. By the time the race was called for Dougherty at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, he had amassed a 40% margin of victory over Boyle. Dougherty is the nephew of once-powerful labor leader John Dougherty, who was convicted of fraud and embezzlement late last year.
Small business owner Erin McClelland won Tuesday’s primary election to snag the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania treasurer, a surprise victory that sets the stage for a tough matchup this fall with incumbent Republican Stacy Garrity. The Associated Press called the race for McClelland at 10:11 p.m. Unofficial results show McClelland with 56% of the vote to opponent Ryan Bizzarro’s 44%.
A Democrat with a track record of winning a statewide row office has secured his party’s nomination for Pennsylvania attorney general. Eugene DePasquale emerged victorious from a crowded field of primary candidates that included Keir Bradford-Grey, Joe Khan, Jared Solomon, and Jack Stollsteimer. With no incumbent in the race, the state party didn’t endorse any candidate. On the Republican ticket, York County District Attorney Dave Sunday defeated state Rep. Craig Williams.
Dave Sunday, York County’s district attorney, has won the Republican nomination for Pa. attorney general, according to AP. AP has declared incumbent state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta the winner in the Democratic primary for the 181st state House of Representatives district. The Philadelphia native is also currently in the lead for the Democratic nomination for auditor general, a race in which he’s facing off state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro. If he ultimately succeeds, he will run against Republican incumbent Timothy DeFoor in November.
Incumbent Kevin Boyle is trailing Sean Dougherty in the Democratic primary for the state House seat representing Northeast Philly and parts of Montgomery County. With 43% of the votes counted, Dougherty — who is backed by the House Democratic Campaign Committee — leads by less than 7%. Boyle entered the primary under a cloud. In addition to a drunken tirade posted on social media, Boyle had an arrest warrant issued against him. District Attorney Larry Krasner rescinded the warrant on Monday.
Dwight Evans wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. Donald Trump wins the Republican presidential primary in Pennsylvania. Democrat Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick win nominations for closely watched U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Polls have closed in Pennsylvania’s 2024 primary election. Voters weighed in on races for attorney general, auditor general, treasurer, and the U.S. House, among others. Follow along as WHYY News tracks primary election results this evening.
Hope Foy, a millennial living in Southwest Philly, voted for Biden in the Democratic presidential primary but she “wasn’t too excited” about it. That’s because he failed to deliver on his promises of student loan forgiveness, she said. “I’m still paying on a monthly basis,” Foy said outside of a polling place at Longstreth Elementary School. “I’m really looking forward to seeing some real change that’ll affect not only different generations, but my generation, as well.”
Foy, who works in the biotech industry, is also concerned about equitable housing opportunities and food insecurity. She recently tried to buy her first investment property, but housing prices put it out of reach. “The housing market is trash right now,” she said. “Definitely looking forward to some of those issues changing.”
Jeffrey Cooper is also feeling the crunch. He worked at the polling place at Longstreth and said politicians aren’t doing enough to address everyday issues, like the economy. “What candidate is really doing something for the people?” Cooper said. “When you’ve got a loaf of bread that costs $5, no one’s really addressing the issue of getting the stress up off of people that are working today.”
Michelle Currica Hernandez, a Southwest Philly resident who works in grant-making, voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary to send Biden a message that she disapproves of his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. “This is an election where you’re actually able to make a political and an activist stance, and it’s reported up the chain,” she said. “I don’t think it’s safe to do in November, but I think of any time that we have the ability to make a statement, this is the time to do it.”
Still, Currica Hernandez is worried about the general election in November, when Biden will face Trump. She focused on picking a candidate for the Pennsylvania attorney general race she thinks could fend off a challenge to Pa.’s election results this fall and worries about turnout. Other top-of-mind issues for Currica Hernandez include gun violence, Republican rhetoric around immigration, safe public spaces in Southwest Philly, and transportation. “Just feeling a little stressed by voting, knowing the consequences of today’s election and how the ballot will look in November,” she said.
Joe Biden wins the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania. With less than an hour before polls close, voters in the suburbs of Philadelphia are still thinking a lot about the Pennsylvania attorney general’s race. And with no official endorsement on the Democratic ticket, voters did a lot of research.
Dominic Polumbo, 25, pulled out a written breakdown of candidates from the League of Women Voters as he stood in front of his polling location at the Abington Art Center. He said he voted for Keir Bradford-Grey. “I wanted to vote for somebody that was local and somebody that had a more progressive stance on the law — so protecting women’s rights,” Polumbo said.
Tanya O’Neill, 58, opted not to share who she voted for, but she said the choice was easy. She heard the candidates speak at her church. “I was really looking for someone who came across as authentic and who is willing to really roll up their sleeves and do the work,” O’Neill said. “I feel like there are folks out there who are running for office now for the prestige of the office, whereas, when I was coming of age and first voting I felt like people actually ran for office because they truly, truly believed in being a public servant.”
O’Neill said she votes in every election. “We have to walk the talk like my father used to say, ‘don’t complain if you’re not going to be part of the solution.’ So at least I get the right to complain,” O’Neill said.
Low turnout in a primary contest or an off-election cycle is expected. However, polling locations in Philadelphia’s suburbs were unusually quiet on Tuesday. The Abington Art Center tends to be busier than most locations in Montgomery County. But this primary election, it is a different story. “There’s been a pretty slow turnout. I’ve been here for a lot of the day, and we just haven’t had nearly as many people as usual,” said Joanna Kallan, a Democratic committee person for District 7-2 in Abington. “But we don’t know how many people are voting by mail.”
The polling location, which usually attracts around 300 voters during a regular primary contest, probably won’t reach the 200 mark. Nevertheless, Kallan said she’s “pretty confident” that energy will be high in November for the general election.
With most nominees for federal offices already decided, there’s not much to be decided today when looking forward to November, says Marc Meredith, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. Meredith told WHYY News that is because of the closed primaries. “What we really want to know, which we won’t be able to get much of a sense of from tonight, is how are the more independent-minded voters or people who are more swing voters who might not show up in primaries — how are they going to vote?” he said.
Polling suggests that voters in Pennsylvania aren’t enthusiastic. So, can turnout in the primaries be used to figure out which candidate’s supporters are more excited about their own candidate? Meredith doesn’t think so. “People will look at today and compare it to 2020 but it’s a little bit of an apples to oranges comparison,” he said. “2020 was such a weird primary election, given when it fell and in the middle of the George Floyd protest and all that, so, ultimately, I think there’s not going to be much to be learned from making that comparison.”
Incumbents in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Congressional districts are being primaried but they are not likely to lose today. Therefore, the stories will play out in the coming months. Instead, Meredith is looking much more closely at the races for state treasurer, state auditor, and, especially, attorney general. Three candidates are running to unseat Stacy Garrity, the incumbent Republican state treasurer, including two Democrats and a member of the Forward Party. Two Democrats are running for auditor general, for which Republican Timothy DeFoor is running for reelection. Meredith says the AG race is the most interesting as eight candidates run for an open seat. “Anytime you have a race like that in Pennsylvania where it’s an open seat, it’s going to be a competitive election in the end,” he said.
The Biden-Harris campaign observed Primary Day by opening 10 more field offices, including three in Philadelphia, rapidly building up for the general election. Several prominent local Democrats assembled at one of the new locations where Rep. Dwight Evans stressed the importance of the expanded presence. “It’s up to all of us to meet voters where they are — including right here in North Philly — and make sure that we reject Donald Trump and Republicans and elect President Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot,” said U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.
Source: WHYY News, Spotlight PA
