Election Results: Little surprise in U.S. House, City Council contests

Down-ballot from John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, there were few — or maybe no — surprises as election results rolled in Tuesday night and Wednesday.

The three incumbent Democrats representing Philadelphia in the U.S. House of Representatives — Brendan Boyle, Dwight Evans and Mary Gay Scanlon — were all easily reelected.

Scanlon faced the toughest opponent, Republican David Galluch, a U.S. Navy veteran who works for Comcast. Partial results indicate Scanlon won just under 65% of the vote.

“Thank you to our supporters and volunteers for your amazing work this election cycle—this victory was possible because of you,” she wrote on Facebook.

Boyle, who was first elected in 2014, defeated GOP nominee Aaron Bashir, who ran on putting “God, community and American people first,” according to his campaign website.

Evans, a longtime state representative prior to his time in Washington, handily earned another term besting challenger Christopher Hoeppner, of the Socialist Workers Party.

Democrats nominated by party leaders also emerged with significant margins in the four special elections to fill seats on City Council.

In the at-large races, Jimmy Harrity, political director of the state Democratic Party, and Sharon Vaughn, a longtime City Hall staffer who most recently worked under Councilmember Derek Green, were elected.

The pair will be in office for at least 12 months — the length of the unexpired terms of Green and Allan Domb — before next year’s municipal election.

Drew Murray, the Republican who came up short against Harrity, said he was already planning to enter the 2023 City Council at-large race.

“The special election ended yesterday,” Murray, former president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, said Wednesday on social media. “The race for 2023 begins today!”

Murray received 18% of the vote and the other GOP hopeful, Northeast Philadelphia real estate agent and bar owner Jim Hasher, who was matched up with Vaughn, also received 18%, according to unofficial results released by the City Commissioners.

In the 7th Council District, voters chose Democrat Quetcy Lozada to replace Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who stepped down to run for mayor. Lozada previously worked for Quinones-Sanchez and spent time with District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office.

And 33-year-old Anthony Phillips was elected to replace Cherelle Parker in the 9th Council District, which covers parts of Northwest and lower Northeast Philadelphia.

Phillips is a doctoral student and founder of Youth Action, a college access and youth mentoring program.

State Sens. Art Haywood and Anthony Hardy Williams, both Democratic incumbents, secured overwhelming victories. Sen. Christine Tartaglione, also a Democrat, ran unopposed.

In the state House of Representatives, the closest race was in the Fox Chase neighborhood, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Kevin Boyle beat out former GOP Councilmember Al Taubenberger by about 2,000 votes, according to unofficial results published Wednesday.

Also in the Northeast, state Rep. Joe Hohenstein earned 65% of the vote in his reelection bid against Republican Mark Lavelle, the partial results indicated.

Other contested races weren’t as competitive, with Democrats Ben Waxman, Roni Green, Elizabeth Fielder, Tarik Khan and Chris Rabb winning two-year terms.

Democrats Amen Brown, Pat Gallagher, Ed Neilson, Mary Isaacson, Jason Dawkins, Jose Giral, Malcolm Kenyatta, Regina Young, Jordan Harris, Rick Krajewski, Joanna McClinton, Morgan Cephas, Donna Bullock, Danilo Burgos, Darisha Parker, Stephen Kinsey, Jared Solomon and Anthony Bellmon all were elected unopposed.

State Rep. Martina White, a Republican, also earned another term in an unopposed race in the Far Northeast.

Both ballot questions passed.

The first, about creating a new city department to oversee Philadelphia’s two airports, was approved with about 68% of the vote, according to results posted Wednesday.

More than 70% voted “yes” to add a preference for graduates of School District of Philadelphia career and technical education programs in the Civil Service process for city jobs.

Shapiro, Fetterman get big Philly bump

In the two headlining-dominating races, Philadelphians sided heavily with the Democrats, both of whom have declared victory and are projected to win.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the GOP gubernatorial nominee who closely tied himself to former President Donald Trump, did not win a single city ward; back in 2020, Trump won a few wards in South Philadelphia and the Far Northeast.

Counts posted Wednesday show that Shapiro and his running mate, state Rep. Austin Davis, got nearly 85% of the tally, besting President Joe Biden’s share of the vote two years ago.

Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz did better than Mastriano in Philadelphia, garnering majorities in South Philadelphia’s 26th Ward and in the Far Northeast. But Fetterman still captured nearly 82% of the city’s vote, according to the preliminary results.

Fetterman’s advantage over Oz in Philadelphia amounted to about 290,000 votes, and, through Wednesday, his statewide margin was just over 205,000.