It was a night for Republicans to celebrate.
Their challengers defeated incumbent Democratic members of Congress from northeast Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, according to unofficial results from the election Tuesday.
Statewide, the Associated Press declared former President Donald Trump the winner in Pennsylvania early this morning and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick was leading three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Casey.
The Pennsylvania victory put Trump within three electoral votes of the 270 necessary to win the presidency for a second time. He either won or led in all seven swing states.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. , the first former president declared he won a second term.
Republicans' three statewide row office candidates won decisive victories, too
In the 8th Congressional District, Republican construction and traffic signal system company CEO Rob Bresnahan of Dallas Twp. had 192,784 votes to 185,930 for six-term U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Moosic Democrat.
Cartwright left what was supposed to be a victory party at the Waldorf Social Club in Scranton well before the almost-final results were known and could not be reached for comment later.
Bresnahan claimed victory later.
In the 7th Congressional District, Republican state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie defeated U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, 197,438 to 191,026, according to unofficial results.
Wild's campaign released a statement from her this morning conceding defeat and congratulating Mackenzie on his victory.
“There is no sugarcoating it: this is a bitterly disappointing outcome," Wild said. "It is of utmost importance that I first state what should be obvious: I lost this election, and my opponent won."
She promised to help Mackenize with "a smooth transition."
"This is how American democracy works," Wild said. "It’s how we move forward. And it is absolutely crucial that candidates, in victory and in defeat, abide by this principle. You cannot only recognize the results of elections you win, no matter how much you may disagree with them."
In the presidential race, Trump led Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as of this morning with 3,432,938 votes to Harris’ 3,270,842, a 162,096-vote lead. That's far higher than Trump's 44,292-vote victory in 2016 and President Joe Biden's 80,555-vote victory in 2016.
In the U.S. Senate race, as of this morning, Republican former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick led three-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, 3,294,580 votes to 3,235,972, a 58,608-vote difference.
Casey did not concede.
“There are more votes that need to be counted in areas like Philadelphia and it’s important that every legal ballot will be counted. When that happens we are confident the Senator will be re-elected," his campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said in an emailed statement this morning.
In the other statewide races, according to results updated this morning:
- York County District Attorney Dave Sunday gave Republicans their first victory for attorney general since Tom Corbett won in 2008.
Sunday led former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale early this morning, 3,390,162 votes to 3,050,149. - Incumbent Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor was headed for a second four-year term, defeating state Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia Democrat. DeFoor led 3,384,490 votes to Kenyatta’s 3,006,675.
- Incumbent Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity won a second four-year term with 3,436,238 votes to Democratic candidate Erin McClelland’s 2,987,008.
Democratic candidates facing challengers in local state representative races fared better. They won, though by narrower margins than they might have expected.
In the state 118th House District race, incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Haddock won a second two-year term by defeating Republican challenger McKayla Kathio, 19,314 votes to 15,079.
At the Dupont Polish Club, Haddock, of Pittston Twp., declared victory.
“Unfortunately, she didn't have a solid message. [She’s] just very negative, [and doesn’t have] much to say. And [she] talked about the borderline and the wall and all this stuff, that's not what Pennsylvania state representatives do,” Haddock said.
Kathio, who held her election returns party at Pittston’s Tomato Bar & Bistro, said before the results were complete that she would vote for stricter border laws if elected.
“People should come in [to America] the right way, in my opinion, just like everyone else has had to in the past,” she said.
In the 121st House District race, Eddie Day Pashinski won a 10th term, defeating Republican cleaning company owner Dino Disler, 10,883 votes to 9,002.
Speaking at Rodano’s Restaurant in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pashinski said plans to continue serving constituents in his next term.
“We're the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world. How did we do that? We did that with people coming together,” Pashinski said. “Everything wasn't perfect, there were arguments, discussions, but we are able to make improvements and build this country for a lot of people. I hope the people that are listening to this never forget all those that gave their lives, sacrificed for us to be where we are today.”
Republicans held other state House and Senate seats.
In the 120th House District, Republican security technology company co-owner Brenda Pugh will replace retiring Republican Rep. Aaron Kaufer.
Pugh defeated a challenge from Democratic candidate Fern Leard. Pugh had 17,918, Leard, 12,947.
“I’m ready to go to work,” Pugh said shortly after declaring victory at a campaign party at Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter. “I want to make sure that we are keeping Pennsylvania out of the pockets of the residents of the 120th. We can’t control inflation, but we can certainly control how much money in taxes Pennsylvania is taking out of the residents’ pockets.”
Before Pugh’s victory was apparent, Leard, who lost for the same seat in 2022, called that race “a setback.”
“And we just kept going,” Leard said. “We knew that this district could be flipped, and I heard from enough people to know that they want some of the change that we want, they want to see things get better.”
Here are the results of other contested races in northeast and north-central Pennsylvania.
76th House District
Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, Republican, 21,101
Denise Maris, Democratic, 9,186
85th House District
Rep. David Rowe, Republican, 23,924
Nicholas Jacobson, Democratic, 8,985
109th House District
Rep. Robert Leadbeter III, Republican, 21,209
Nicholas McGaw, Democratic, 10,285
115th House District
Rep. Maureen Madden, Democratic, 15,707
Matthew Long, Republican, 13,736
116th House District
Rep. Dane Watro Jr., Republican, 13,970
Deborah Adoff, Democratic, 5,002
119th House District
Rep. Alec Ryncavage, Republican, 16,122
Megan Kocher, Democratic, 8,522
123rd House District
Rep. Tim Twardzik, Republican, 19,305
Michael Zvalaren, Democratic, 5,769
124th House District
Rep. Jamie Barton, Republican, 21,564
Tina Burns, Democratic
139th House District
Jeffrey Olsommer, Republican, 25,998
Robin Schooley Skibber, Democratic, 12,597
176th House District
Rep. Jack Rader Jr., Republican, 21,212
Hope Christman, Democratic, 12,402
189th House District
Rep. Tarah Probst, Democratic, 16,706
Lisa VanWhy, Republican, 12,401
23rd Senate District
Sen. Gene Yaw, Republican, 99,472
Kim Pitcher, Democratic, 33,354
27th Senate District
Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, Republican, 63,967
Patricia Lawton, Democratic, 21,303
29th Senate District
Sen. David Argall, Republican, 68,067
John Zugarek, Democratic, 19,564
Timothy Henning, Libertarian, 2,926
9th Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, Republican, 236,445
Amanda Waldman, Democratic, 93,132
15th Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, Republican, 270,669
Zach Womer, Democratic, 100,904
