HomeNewsElection roundup: A look at the final numbers

Election roundup: A look at the final numbers

The votes are in: Sitting state Rep. John Sabatina Jr. celebrates with supporters after winning the special election for Pennsylvania’s 5th Senatorial District seat on May 19. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTO

While Jim Kenney easily won last week’s Democratic mayoral primary with 56 percent of the vote, his numbers were even better in the 14 Northeast wards.

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Kenney won every ward in the Northeast, with Lynne Abraham — who managed just 8 percent citywide and placed third among six candidates — finished second in nine of the 14 wards.

Anthony Williams, who won 26 percent citywide to finish second, placed third in nine Northeast wards and second in the 23rd, 35th, 53rd, 54th and 62nd wards in the Lower Northeast.

••

City Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez (D-7th dist.) defeated Manny Morales in the Democratic primary with 53.55 percent of the vote.

The vote totals were 6,510 to 5,646.

Sanchez can thank two late endorsement from Dan Savage and Alan Butkovitz, Democratic leaders of the 23rd and 54th wards, respectively.

Ward leaders initially backed Morales and generally stuck by him after he was linked to Facebook postings that seemed more appropriate for a conservative Republican.

But Savage and Butkovitz ultimately drifted to Sanchez. Savage held the seat until losing it to Sanchez in 2007, and he dropped a 2011 comeback bid. Both races were bitter.

Last week, Sanchez carried the 23rd Ward by a vote of 1,480 to 616. She took the 54th by a vote of 205–105.

••

Councilman Ed Neilson (D-at large) did pretty well in the Northeast wards, finishing in the top five in 10 of the 14 and placing first in four of them.

However, he finished ninth among 16 candidates. Only the top five move on to the general election.

Neilson lost because he didn’t fare well in predominantly black wards and in the white liberal areas of Center City and Chestnut Hill.

In the 5th and 8th wards in Center City, he finished 14th. In the 9th Ward in Chestnut Hill, he was also 14th.

Neilson, a former state representative, could try for a return to Harrisburg. That’s because there will be a special election in the 174th Legislative District, since Democratic Rep. John Sabatina Jr. last week won a special election for the 5th Senatorial District seat.

••

City voters overwhelmingly passed four proposed charter changes that would create a commission for women, abolish the School Reform Commission, study the idea of universal pre-kindergarten and require all city offices and agencies to develop and carry out Language Access Plans.

However, the vote totals in the Northeast wards were much closer.

In fact, the question on creating Language Access Plans lost in the 45th, 57th, 58th, 63rd, 64th, 65th and 66th wards.

••

Pennsylvania voters last week chose candidates to run in the general election for three seats on the Supreme Court.

Six Republicans and six Democrats ran.

The Republican winners were the endorsed slate: Judy Olson, Mike George and Anne Covey. They were trailed by Cheryl Allen, Rebecca Warren and Correale Stevens.

“At a time when the ideological makeup of the state Supreme Court hangs in the balance, Republican voters have elected three strong candidates with a deep commitment to judicial reform,” said Rob Gleason, chairman of the state Republican Party.

The Democratic winners were David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty. Wecht and Dougherty had the party endorsement. Democrats did not make an endorsement for the third seat. Anne Lazarus, Dwayne Woodruff and John Foradora placed fourth, fifth and sixth.

••

In the Democratic primary for Superior Court, Alice Beck Dubow easily defeated Robert Colville, 58.50 percent to 41.50 percent. The party did not endorse a candidate.

In the Democratic primary for Commonwealth Court, Pittsburgh lawyer Michael Wojcik defeated Scranton attorney Todd Eagen, 54 percent to 46 percent. Eagen had party backing.

Republican Emil Giordano was unopposed in the Superior Court primary and will face Beck Dubow.

Republican Paul Lalley was unopposed in the Commonwealth Court primary and will face Wojcik.

“Republicans stand poised for victory this November,” said Gleason, the party boss.

••

Joe DeFelice, executive director of the Republican City Committee, is applauding the arrests of three election inspectors and an election judge for a variety of election law violations in 2014, including adding votes to the total tally and not living in the division in which they claimed to be residents.

Republican poll workers reported the infractions to city elections commissioner Al Schmidt, who forwarded them to the district attorney’s office.

The polling place was at 1401 N. Hancock St.

“Thankfully, there were responsible poll workers at this poll who would not sit idly by as the fraud was committed. However, what about the other 1,600-plus divisions throughout the city? In many of them, Republican poll watchers and court-appointed election board workers have notoriously been disallowed entry, with the so-called ‘judges of elections’ blatantly disregarding court orders,” DeFelice said. “It is unfortunate that in the Cradle of Liberty that we still can’t expect fair and honest elections. Thankfully, City Commissioner Al Schmidt was on top of this.”

••

Former congressman Joe Sestak, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, said he will fight to create manufacturing jobs, if elected.

Sestak supports efforts to retrain the workforce to close the skills gap with other nations and create a tax environment that incentivizes research and development.

The candidate said it’s better to spend money in the green energy sector because job growth would be bigger than in the oil and natural gas industries.

“For every $1 million investment in the wind industry, 4.5 jobs are created, and in solar it’s 5.4 jobs,” he said.

Sestak also wants to cut the backlog at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by hiring more examiners.

••

One Nation, a new advocacy organization that seeks to break through the partisan gridlock in Congress, launched its second ad buy last week in New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The ads are a continuation of the $2 million campaign announced two weeks ago.

The radio ads urge continued congressional action in support of the bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority, pointing to leadership on the issue from Republican Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Rob Portman of Ohio.

The ads highlight their work on what One Nation sees as pro-worker, job-creating legislation and how it is emblematic of a new Congress actually getting results.

ldquo;Under the new leadership in Congress, gridlock and partisanship are being replaced by cooperation and bipartisan results,” said Steven Law, president of One Nation. “Nowhere is that progress more apparent than in the work of Sens. Kelly Ayotte, Pat Toomey and Rob Portman to forge bipartisan consensus for a strong, pro-worker trade deal to grow American jobs.” ••

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