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Clout has three questions every Election Day. Some politicians answered. Everyone dodged the third one.

Who will be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate? Or the Republican nominee for governor? What happens with the trial of John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty and Councilmember Bobby Henon?

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania attorney general, and Sharif Street, Pennsylvania state senator. Politicians meet at Relish, a West Oak Lane restaurant on Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia on Election Day.
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania attorney general, and Sharif Street, Pennsylvania state senator. Politicians meet at Relish, a West Oak Lane restaurant on Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia on Election Day.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

Election Day is Clout’s favorite holiday since it comes twice a year with double the opportunity to corner politicians with our three questions.

Tuesday’s trio of queries, with the traditional zing on the third:

  1. Who will be the 2022 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate?

  2. Who will be the 2022 Republican nominee for governor?

  3. Will a federal jury convict or acquit electricians union chief John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty and/or City Councilmember Bobby Henon in their bribery trial or will the judge toss the case before a verdict?

The answers, all from Democrats:

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who won a second term Tuesday: 1) A Democrat, 2) A Trump-y jackass, 3) I would just say trust the process.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a candidate for governor: 1) I’m focused on my race but any of them would be far better than what we have in U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, 2) I also don’t know but I’m not sure it matters. I mean, they’re all so extreme and really cut from the same cloth, 3) I think given my role as A.G., I can’t answer that one.

Former Lt. Gov. Mike Stack III, who is mulling a return to politics: 1) It could be any number of people, including Mike Stack III, 2) State Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman. That would change a lot and make it spicy, 3) No matter what happens, it won’t be the last that you hear from either of them.

City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, who won a second term Tuesday: 1) hopefully someone who can beat a Republican, 2) I don’t think it matters. Josh will be governor, 3) Completely up to the jury.

State Sen. Sharif Street, who is exploring a bid for the U.S. Senate: 1) I think the Democratic nominee will be the next senator, 2) Probably somebody crazy, 3) I wouldn’t want to pre-judge.

City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr.: 1) I will say it will come from the west, out of Pittsburgh, 2) It doesn’t matter. Shapiro is the odds-on favorite, 3) I think it’s gonna be somewhere in between [guilty and not guilty.] I have to be careful. They are my friends.

City Councilmember Derek Green: 1) Hard to predict, 2) Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, 3) As a lawyer myself, I don’t talk about trials when you’re not in the court or on the jury.

State Rep. Morgan Cephas: 1) State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, 2) Lou Barletta, 3) I haven’t been following.

State Rep. Rick Krajewski: 1) Whoever it is, it’s going to be someone that I want to work with, 2) State Sen. Doug Mastriano would be my preferred pick. I think the scariest pick would be State Sen. Camera Bartolotta. She is moderate enough that she could try to peel off conservative Democrats. Mastriano, he’s crazy, 3) It doesn’t matter. Corporate interests and CEOs and banks and developers all do things that seem like extreme conflicts of interests but as soon as we have a pro-union Council member that does something that seems like it’s of interest for organized labor it’s a scandal.

Clout also fielded a smattering of ambiguous answers from State Rep. Mary Isaacson, City Councilmembers Cherelle Parker and Allan Domb, City Commissioner Lisa Deeley, potential mayoral contender Jeff Brown, and State Sens. Vincent Hughes, Nikil Saval and Anthony Hardy Williams.

Chuck Peruto shrugs off the silver linings

With Philadelphia Democrats holding a seven-to-one voter registration advantage over Republicans, it didn’t seem too outlandish for Krasner to comfortably predict his victory against GOP challenger A. Charles “Chuck” Peruto a week before the ballots were tallied.

Still, City Commissioner Al Schmidt noted that Peruto outperformed the last seven Republicans who ran for district attorney since 1993. The longtime defense attorney put up the best numbers since Ron Castille, the last Republican district attorney, ran in 1989.

Peruto called Clout on Thursday to mull the stats. We reached him in Barcelona, Spain, where he was recuperating from his foray into politics.

“We were going to have to cancel the trip if I had won,” he said with a laugh. “What a pipe dream.”

Castille, who went on to be the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, offered Peruto advice during the campaign. Peruto also said Castille predicted his loss.

Peruto, who took 30% of the vote, had been hoping to hit at least 40%. A map of the vote tally shows he won Northeast Philly, the river wards and the southern reaches of South Philly.

Wolf blunders, Republicans pounce

Gov. Tom Wolf, a master of the unforced error, made one while voting: He accidentally asked his wife to break Pennsylvania election law.

And then he talked about it on the radio.

Wolf didn’t do the standard Election Day politician voting photo op. ”My wife actually dropped it off personally,” Wolf told a Pittsburgh radio station Tuesday.

Just one problem: Voters must return their own mail ballots unless they are disabled.

”It was an honest mistake,” Wolf spokesperson Beth Rementer said.

State Rep. Seth Grove, the House GOP point person on elections, said he doesn’t blame Wolf. He wants legislation to fix the state’s election process.

“That’s why I’ve been asking to get this stuff done, so Frances Wolf doesn’t have to go to jail,” Grove said with a laugh.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.