Trump and Biden receive caution in Pennsylvania primary results
Pennsylvania voters voted in key primary races for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Results indicated challenges for both candidates within their bases. Noteworthy outcomes included significant write-in votes against Biden and notable wins for other candidates. The primaries set the stage for critical November elections, determining control of the Senate and House. Pennsylvania voters cast crucial primary votes for Joe Biden and Donald Trump, facing challenges within their support base. The results highlighted substantial write-in ballots against Biden and victories for alternative candidates. These primaries shape the path for pivotal November elections, influencing the control of the Senate and House.
Voters in Pennsylvania headed to the polls on Tuesday to select the nominees in a series of key primary races up and down the ballot.
While the primary races for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were largely ceremonial as both candidates claimed the required delegates to become their party’s presumptive nominee earlier this year, Tuesday’s results showed warning signs for Trump and Biden with their respective bases.
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More than 155,000 registered Pennsylvania Republicans, or roughly 17% of voters, snubbed Trump and voted for former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley in the primary. The former president won 83% of the vote with about 98% of the ballots in.
The results come roughly seven weeks after Haley dropped out of the race and with independents prohibited from voting in the GOP primary, in a sign of weakness for Trump’s third White House bid.
Meanwhile, Biden faced a write-in campaign, over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. While it is not clear how many write-in votes were a part of the effort, over 50,000 votes were cast as write-ins, according to NBC News projections. When NBC News’s write-in total is combined with the over 67,000 votes Rep. Dean Phillips received, Biden potentially lost over 117,000 votes in the Democratic primary.
Pennsylvania remains one of the seven battleground states that will determine whether Trump or Biden returns to the White House. Both candidates have heavily stumped in the state.
Still, the down-ballot races, including the Senate and a handful of House primaries, provided most of Tuesday’s excitement as the results will set the stage for November, when control of both the Senate and House will be up for grabs. Polls closed at 8 p.m.
Results:
Presidential
Biden won Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, with the Associated Press calling the race in his favor only two minutes after polls closed, at 8:02 p.m. Biden won 93.1% with 89% of ballots in. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who has suspended his campaign, secured 6.9%.
The “Uncommitted PA” effort, whose website is paid for by the Democratic Socialists of America, was seeking to secure 40,000 votes, about half of Biden’s victory in 2020, in Tuesday’s primary. NBC News projected write in-votes garnered roughly 51,521 votes as of 11:53 p.m. on Tuesday night. Only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary.
In the Republican primary, Trump defeated his one-time U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, 83.5% to 16.5%, with 98% of the vote counted for, with the Associated Press calling the race at 8:09 p.m. Eastern time.
Since exiting the race in early March Haley has pulled roughly 10% to 20% of the vote in GOP state primaries against Trump. In Wisconsin, another critical battleground state, Haley won 12.8% of the votes compared to Trump’s 79.2%.
Only registered Republicans could vote in the GOP primary.
Delegates at stake: 67 Republican delegates, 159 Democratic delegates
Senate
Incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who is seeking a fourth term, and Republican Dave McCormick won the Democratic and Republican primaries. Both candidates, who ran unopposed, are likely to use their expected primary wins to propel their campaigns ahead of their general election matchup.
The Associated Press called the races for both primaries at 8:01 p.m.
The 2024 race is McCormick’s second time seeking a Senate seat in the Keystone State after losing the Republican primary race to Dr. Mehmet Oz during the 2022 midterm elections. Oz, who had the backing of Trump, then went on to lose in the general election to now-Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
The race between Casey and McCormick, who has the backing of Trump, is expected to be one of the most competitive of the 2024 cycle and could decide which party controls the Senate in November.
1st Congressional District
Incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) soundly defeated Mark Houck, 63.1% to 36.9%, with 78% of the vote counted after the Associated Press called the race at 8:13 p.m.
Fitzpatrick, the co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, is a centrist Republican who has served in Congress since 2017.
Houck, an anti-abortion activist who is in favor of banning abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest, first came into the national spotlight in 2022 when he was federally charged for allegedly pushing a 72-year-old Planned Parenthood volunteer outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. Houck was later acquitted in the case in 2023.
In the Democratic primary, Ashley Ehasz, a former Army helicopter pilot, ran unopposed and will face Fitzpatrick in November. Fitzpatrick previously defeated Ehasz in 2022.
Fitzpatrick’s seat is one of 16 districts that Biden carried in 2020 that was won by a Republican, making the district a pivotal seat both parties will be seeking in November.
12th Congressional District
Incumbent Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) survived a primary challenge in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District from local Edgewood Borough Councilwoman Bhavini Patel, with the Associated Press calling the race for Lee at 9:21 p.m.
Lee secured 60.8% of the vote with 96% counted, while Patel won 39.2%.
Lee, a prominent member of the “Squad” who is seeking her second term in the House, has been a vocal critic of Israel and its response to the Oct. 7 attack on the country by Hamas. While Lee’s seat is not expected to be competitive in November, Tuesday’s primary offered one of the first tests of how lawmakers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza will fare in 2024.
In the GOP primary, businessman James Hayes ran unopposed and will face Lee in November.
10th Congressional District
Former WGAL-TV anchor Janelle Stelson won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 10th District, defeating five other Democrats for the opportunity to take on incumbent Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) in November.
Stelson won with 43.7% with 98% of the votes counted, with the Associated Press calling the race at 9:28 p.m.
Stelson defeated retired Marine Mike O’Brien, former WITF-FM executive Blake Lynch, Harrisburg Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels, Army veteran and Carlisle school board member Rick Coplen, and businessman John Broadhurst.
Perry, a former chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, has been a staunch ally of Trump and was an alleged participant in the effort to keep the former president in power in 2020.
7th Congressional District
State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie won the GOP primary race in Pennsylvania’s 7th District against Republican rivals personal injury lawyer Maria Montero and business owner Kevin Dellicker, with the Associated Press calling the race for Mackenzie at 9:41 p.m.
Mackenzie secured 42% of the vote with 85% of votes counted, while Montero won 24.9% and Dellicker won 33.1%.
Mackenzie will now face incumbent Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), who ran unopposed for her seat in the Democratic primary, in November.
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Attorney general
Five Democrats and two Republicans ran in the attorney general race to replace Democrat Michelle Henry, who was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) in January when he stepped down as attorney general and was sworn in as governor.
Former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale won the Democratic primary, defeating four other Democrats and securing 36.9% of the vote with 90% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, York County District Attorney Dave Sunday won his GOP primary race against state Rep. Craig Williams with 70.3% of the vote with 86% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press. Williams won 29.7% of the vote.
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