While one race still remains too close to call, Bucks County Democrats are feeling good about the outcome of the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who won his race for a second term in the 10th District, said, at a press conference, “there was talk of the red wave, but that red wave wound up crashing into a blue wall.”
Besides Santarsiero, voters reelected state Representatives Perry Warren (D-31), Tina Davis (D-141) and John Galloway (D-140). Newly elected lawmakers were Tim Brennan, in the reconfigured 29th District and Brian Munroe (D-144). The race between Democrat Mark Moffa and Republican Joe Hogan in the 142nd District was still undecided as of press time, with only a handful of votes separating the two candidates.
On Tuesday, the county’s board of elections, comprised of the three county commissioners, met to review provisional ballots.
The board rejected about 1,200 ballots for a variety of reasons, including those that were unsigned or had no date.
Of the ballots set aside:
- 79 segregated ballots were rejected for being unsigned or having no signature and date.
215 were rejected for not having a date.
153 were incorrect.
492 “naked ballots,” meaning they did not have a secrecy envelope.
59 had an “identifying mark” such as a signature across the secrecy ballot.
25-30 miscellaneous ballots that were from other counties or had no ballot in the secrecy envelope were set aside.
The board meets again Nov. 17 to review another 1,600 provisional ballots.
If Moffa wins, the Democrats could hold the majority in the house in Harrisburg for the first time in over a decade.
As of Nov. 14, Hogan has 15,353 votes, while Moffa had 15,239, in unofficial results, according to the Bucks County Board of Elections.
When all the state’s races are decided, Democrats such as Santarsiero, who also chairs the Bucks County Democratic Committee, believe the party will hold an unprecedented six out of 10 seats in Bucks County.
“This is the party that created Social Security. This is the party that created Medicare. This is the party that created the Affordable Care Act. And this is the party in Pennsylvania that has stood up to make historical investments in education, our roads and bridges and putting people to work,” said Santarsiero. “We have a story to tell and our candidates and all of us have told that story.”
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