Voters look ahead to ‘crucial issues’ in November on a sleepy but steamy Pa. primary day

On a blow-dryer hot Pennsylvania primary election day, voters chose nominees for key congressional races in Philadelphia and Bucks County and for the legislative campaigns that will decide who will control the state House and Senate.

But very much on the minds of those who bothered to show up at the polls were the state of the economy, Republican President Donald Trump, and a person who may make a run at succeeding him, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was unopposed for renomination.

“There will be crucial issues this November,” said Democrat Elaina Pimentel, 60, voting in Phoenixville, a Chester County town enjoying a run of prosperity. “I just think we are in a state we have not seen in a long time. … There needs to be some type of change.”

Once again, it appeared that the races would be decided by a distinct minority, as the usually low turnout for a primary election could end up being even lower than usual.

“Tumbleweeds, tumbleweeds,” said Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the election watchdog group Committee of Seventy. “I think we’re going to see crazy low turnout.”

Along with fewer voters came few disputes for the Philly election court to resolve.

The Roxborough Memorial Hospital polling place was library quiet, and about the only sound was coming from the air-conditioning system (which no doubt would have been a voter favorite on Tuesday).

Voter turnout was light all day, judge of elections Zach Astein said. He found that disappointing. “This is your opportunity to change things,” Astein said. “If you don’t come, then don’t complain later.”

Cristella, who lives in Philadelphia’s 3rd Congressional District, where four candidates were in a heated race for the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring Democrat U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, said the turnout could come in under 20% in the city.

Even in that race, “we’re not seeing ... high turnout,” she said.

Its winner likely would claim the nomination with a paltry percentage of votes from all those eligible.

Voting at Summit Presbyterian Church, which usually has a high participation rate, 68-year-old Cynthia Albrecht offered about the most robust comment about turnout.

“This is decent for midterms,” Albrecht said. “It hasn’t been busy but is slow and steady.”

In addition to the Philadelphia congressional race — in which State Sen. Sharif Street, State Rep. Chris Rabb, and political newcomers Ala Stanford and Shaun Griffith were competing — the other marquee U.S. House contest was in Bucks County, a purple county in a key swing state.

In that race, Democrats Bob Harvie and Lucia Simonelli were vying for the right to run against Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.

Overall, however, the election featured relatively few competitive races, Cristella said, and voters appeared to be more concerned with the state of the nation and what might happen in 2028.

» READ MORE: How the Pennsylvania governor’s race will help decide who controls the U.S. House

Shapiro, who has hinted that he might make a run at the White House in 2028, received mixed reviews at a polling place in Lower Merion, Montgomery County, where Shapiro was a former county commissioner.

“I like him,” said Maureen Schutz, 83, a retiree who lives in Wynnewood. She was especially impressed with his role in the 12-day repair of a collapsed section of I-95 in 2023.

But for Maureen Witte, 77, a nurse and Wynnewood resident, Shapiro’s tenure has been “a disgrace.”

Witte, a Republican, criticized Shapiro’s 2023 veto of a private-school voucher program that he initially supported alongside Republicans, but later reneged on.

“After promising to support school choice, and his deliberate failure to sign that into law, I will not consider voting for him,” Witte said. “He’s a failure, and he’s very self-centered, and all he cares about is himself. I know he has political aspirations.”

Voting in Coatesville, Deb Carrasquillo, 65, a Democrat, said she hoped Shapiro would run for president. “I trust him. He seems sincere, he seems accessible, he seems like he really understands residents of Pennsylvania and what’s important to them,” she said.

Generally, among voters interviewed, Shapiro fared better than Trump.

Schutz said she does not like Trump, and is unhappy about the economy and foreign wars that the United States “never should have been involved in starting.”

Said Democratic voter Bernard Owens, 68, who works for the Coatesville VA Medical Center: “I put my life on the line for the country. And this is what I got to go through, with a president who is trying to separate all the people.”

Others were tepid about Shapiro. In Coatesville, Democratic voter Kelly Micola, 32, said she felt “lukewarm” about the governor.

While West Chester resident Carolyn Yablon, 65, thought Shapiro had earned reelection, there were “little things” she was not happy with, saying he could take a harder stance on the smattering of data centers proposed in Pennsylvania and the region.

The election may have been wanting for competitive races, but some voters said they showed up out of a sense of duty.

In one sense, they were part of history. The official high in Philadelphia was 98 degrees, a record for the date and setting the record for the entire month of May.

On that front, at least, Tuesday topped even the COVID-postponed 2020 primary, which was held June 2.

The high that day was 73.

Staff writers Emily Bloch, Ryan Briggs, Jesse Bunch, Max Marin, Michelle Myers, Denali Sagner, Henry Savage, and Brooke Schultz contributed to this article.