Pa. primary election: West Philly race too close to call; Nikki Haley got a lot of votes against Donald Trump; full results

The Democratic primary between State Rep. Amen Brown and progressive challenger Cass Green remained too close to call Wednesday, prolonging the drama in one of the most competitive Pennsylvania House races in Tuesday’s primary election.

Brown, 36, a two-term incumbent, was clinging to a 50-vote lead over Green, 64, on Wednesday evening with all precincts reporting in his West Philadelphia-based 10th District and almost all mail ballots counted. Radio personality Sajda “Purple” Blackwell, 47, was a distant third.

In Pennsylvania’s primary election on Tuesday, one thing is clear: county is king.

Former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale won the Democratic nomination for state attorney general by capturing most of his hundreds of thousands of votes from Western Pennsylvania, as the only candidate in a five-way primary race to hail from that part of the state.

Write in votes in the Democratic presidential primary in Philadelphia this year exceeded write in votes from the 2020 election by nearly seven to one. Progressive activists had mounted a campaign to ask Democrats to write “uncommitted” on their ballot as a protest against President Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

But it may never be clear how many Philadelphia voters wrote uncommitted on their ballot for the presidential primary.

Turnout was down statewide and across both parties in Pennsylvania’s primary on Tuesday.

Just 29% of registered voters turned out to vote in the primary, down from 41% in the 2020 presidential primary election.

Sen. Bob Casey, shortly after winning his uncontested primary, voted late Tuesday night to ban TikTok in the U.S. if it does not comply with a forced sale.

Casey (D., Pa.) joined a majority of senators from both parties supporting the measure, which was part of a broader package providing aid to Israel and the Ukraine. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) also supported the bill, which now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential race in early March but still received more than 16% of the vote in Pennsylvania’s Republican presidential primary Tuesday, a sign of Republican discontent with former President Donald Trump as their nominee.

The vote for Haley, whose name appeared on the ballot despite her campaign suspension, was strongest in southeastern Pennsylvania, with Montgomery County giving Haley nearly a quarter of the vote.

The Democratic primary for the West Philadelphia-based 10th District of the Pennsylvania House was too close to call late Tuesday night, with State Rep. Amen Brown holding a narrow lead over progressive challenger Cass Green.

The three-way primary was a rematch between Brown, 36; Green, 64, a community organizer; and radio personality Sajda “Purple” Blackwell, 47, who was a distant third. The Democratic district includes Mantua, Powelton, and parts of University City and Logan Square.

Sean Dougherty unseated seven-term incumbent State Rep. Kevin Boyle in Tuesday’s Democratic primary Tuesday in a Northeast Philadelphia district and will advance to the general election in a critical race that could help determine which party controls the state House.

House Democrats poured more than $300,000 into Dougherty’s campaign in Northeast Philadelphia in recent weeks, hoping to unseat Boyle – who sought reelection without the party’s support as his family said he’s struggling with a serious mental health condition.

For years, neighborhood groups in Philadelphia have urged local officials to provide them with legal protections due to their city-sanctioned involvement in zoning matters, which could place them at odds with monied business owners.

Now Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will have to figure out how to indemnify Registered Community Organizations (RCOs), after Philadelphia voters approved a ballot question Tuesday requiring the city to do so.

Preliminary primary voting results from the state’s largest Democratic counties showed a higher percentage of write-in votes on the Democratic presidential party line than in the 2020 presidential primary, a possible sign of protest votes cast against President Joe Biden.

Progressive organizers mounted a campaign urging voters to write in “uncommitted” as a protest vote over Biden’s ongoing support to Israel in its monthslong war against Hamas that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. The group known as Uncommitted PA hoped to send a message to Biden in a critical swing state he’ll need in November.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump officially won Pennsylvania’s presidential primary Tuesday as the campaigns prepare for a November rematch pitting two vastly different leadership styles and political visions for the nation against each other.

Their primary victories were a foregone conclusion, but the closely contested general election will hinge on which of the deeply unpopular candidates can build a coalition in swing states like Pennsylvania.

A primary election day that was wall-to-wall splendid around here with unimpeded sun and a generous ration of April warmth was absolutely perfect for voting. And evidently for not voting.

With nominees already essentially chosen for president — and not everyone is happy with them — and U.S. Senate and a general absence of passion, indications were that 70% or more of voters in the region and across the state decided this primary wasn’t worth their trouble.