Democrats in Philadelphia celebrated the ‘blue wave’ that swept across the nation in Tuesday’s midterm elections, allowing their party to take command of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Much of the action happened outside of Pennsylvania, though four seats flipped in the House, including in Bucks County’s 1st Congressional District.
“Pennsylvanians stood up tonight, rejected Republicans’ agenda of higher costs and less healthcare, and elected four incredible leaders who are ready to put their communities first in Washington and deliver for the people of the Commonwealth,” state Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale said in a statement.
In Philadelphia, the results went largely as expected.
Chris Rabb, the progressive state representative who emerged from a competitive May primary, was officially elected to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, overcoming a bid from independent Dennis Mahoney. He will replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Mary Gay Scanlon cruised to reelection, defeating GOP challengers Jessica Arriaga and Nicholas Manganaro in the 2nd and 5th districts, respectively.
Voters granted another term to Democratic state Sen. Art Haywood in a district that covers portions of Northwest Philadelphia and Montgomery County. The Republican candidate was pastor Todd Johnson.
Democratic incumbent Sens. Christine Tartaglione and Anthony Hardy Williams were reelected without opposition in the 2nd and 8th districts.
The tightest race to represent Philadelphia in the state House came in the Far Northeast’s 170th district, where GOP Rep. Martina White won another two-year term.
White, the city’s only Republican representative in the House, earned nearly 58% of the vote tally, to Democratic hopeful Rob Gurtcheff’s 42%, according to preliminary results from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Elsewhere in the Northeast, incumbent Democrat Pat Gallagher beat out Republican Bill Griffin in the 173rd District. Rep. Joe Hohenstein was successfully reelected in 177th District, over GOP nominee Robyn Bird.
Rep. Morgan Cephas, in West Philadelphia’s 192nd District, pulled in 96% of the vote in a race against Republican Tiffany Vann Brown.
Twenty-two other Democratic state House candidates from Philadelphia, primarily incumbents, were uncontested Tuesday.
City voters, by a wide margin, approved a pair of amendments to the municipality’s governing document.
The first question gives City Hall the right to prioritize small and local businesses for municipal contracts worth between $75,000 and $500,000, even if those companies did not submit the lowest bid.
About 84% of voters agreed that Creative Philadelphia, the city’s existing arts and culture office, should become a permanent part of local government and oversee Mural Arts and the city’s Public Art Program.
Data posted by the City Commissioners on Wednesday, with a small number of ballots left to be counted, showed that about 45% of registered Philadelphians voted, on par with the turnout in the 2022 midterms.
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