Pennsylvania voted Tuesday, although statewide race results will be delayed until next Tuesday, June 9 due to Gov. Tom Wolf’s executive order which extended the deadline to receive mail-in ballots in six counties (the ballots must still have been postmarked by June 2). Since Wolf’s order includes Montgomery County, which holds several municipalities in the 131st legislative district (including Upper Hanover Township, East Greenville, Pennsburg and Red Hill), the only race that was decided Tuesday in the Saucon Source coverage area was to determine which Republican would challenge incumbent Democrat Susan Wild for Pennsylvania’s 7th U.S. Congressional District seat.
Lisa Scheller has been declared the winner in the Republican primary for that seat.
Scheller, who had recently received an endorsement from President Donald Trump, beat Dean Browning by a margin of about 3.5 percent, according to unofficial results.
Meanwhile, Milou Mackenzie of Lower Saucon Township currently leads by a wide margin over the other three GOP nominees for state representative in District 131.
Mackenzie currently sits at 46 percent of the vote with nearly 3,000 ballots cast in her name, while Nathan Brown has 23 percent, Pennsburg mayor Vicki Lightcap has 21 percent and Joe Ellenberger has nine percent. Official results will not be available for at least another week, however, as Montgomery County residents will have until June 9 at 5 p.m. to return outstanding mail-in ballots. Whoever takes the GOP nod will wind up facing Democrat Kevin Branco of Upper Saucon Township in November.
Wolf’s executive order has also meant that the crowded race to be the Democratic nominee for PA Auditor General is still undecided. With 83 percent of precincts reporting totals, Michael Lamb holds what seems to be a comfortable lead with 36 percent of votes in his favor. It is notable, however, that Wolf’s order includes Philadelphia County, where 20 percent of the state’s registered Democrats reside. Some analysts believe that could benefit Nina Ahmad, who hails from the city. Ahmad was in second place as of Wednesday morning with 28 percent of the vote, trailing Lamb by approximately 60,000 ballots cast. The next closest contender was Christina M. Hartman with 12 percent of ballots cast, appearing to render this essentially a two-person race. The winner will square off with Timothy Defoor, who ran unopposed on the GOP ballot, in November.
Candidates for PA Attorney General (incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Heather Heidelbaugh), State Treasurer (incumbent Democrat Joe Torsella and Republican Stacy L. Garrity) and District 136 PA State Representative (incumbent Democrat Bob Freeman) all ran unopposed. Additionally, incumbent Donald J. Trump easily took PA’s Republican delegates with 94 percent of the vote, while presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden won 77 percent of his party’s ballots, with a little over 80 percent of precincts reporting at press time. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who withdrew from the race after Pennsylvania’s primary ballots were finalized, still received 19 percent of the Democratic vote.
