A Breakdown of the May 2021 Primary

Yesterday, voters across Pennsylvania cast their ballots in the Republican and Democratic primaries and four constitutional amendments. Below you will find a breakdown of statewide results and election results in Philadelphia and Allegheny County.

Statewide

Supreme Court:

Democrat Maria McLaughlin, a Superior Court judge who was unopposed in the primary, will face Republican Kevin Brobson, in the race for the open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Currently, the Supreme Court has a 5-2 Democratic majority.

Superior and Commonwealth Court:

There are currently two open positions on the Commonwealth Court and one on the Superior court. Currently, all Democratic races were too close to call. However, in the Democratic primary for Superior Court, Jill Beck(Allegheny County) has a slight lead (40.81%-47%.28) over Timika Lane (Philadelphia). On the Republican ticket, Megan Sullivan ran unopposed.

As for the race for Commonwealth Court, Lori Dumas (Philadelphia) received the most votes, 422,797 (29.22%), while for the second open seat David Spurgeon (Allegheny County) and Amanda Green-Hawkins (Allegheny County) are too close to call.

Philadelphia

District Attorney:

In the contested district attorney race, incumbent Larry Krasner defeated Democratic primary challenger Carlos Vega. As of today, with 70% of the vote counted, Krasner had a wide lead, 65% to 35%. This was a big test for the city of Philadelphia if its citizens would continue to support Krasner’s progressive criminal justice agenda.

Judge of Common Pleas:

Philadelphia voters also weighed in on common pleas judges. These results are unofficial as more vote-by-mail ballots need to be counted. However, the top eight judicial candidates are; Nick Kamau, Wendi Barish, Criteria Mccabe. Betsy Wahl, Chris Hall, Craig Levin, Michele Hangley, and Daniel Sulman.

Municipal Court:

Voters had to choose three municipal court judges. Michael Lambert, Greg Yorgey-Girdy, and George Twardy were the top three vote-getters.

Pittsburgh

Mayor:

In a significant upset, State Representative Ed Gainey will likely become Pittsburgh's first Black mayor after defeating incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto, who was seeking a third term. Pending election in November, he will be sworn into office in January 2022. Gainey, from Lincoln-Lemington, has represented the 24th state House district since 2013. He previously worked for Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Tom Murphy. Gainey was the first challenger to unseat an incumbent mayor since 1933. His campaign focused on police reform, prioritizing affordable housing and making the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) pay its fair share in taxes.

Ballot Questions

Pennsylvania voters approved two ballot questions that will reduce the governor's emergency powers. Unofficial results show that 54% of voters approved amending the state constitution to allow a simple majority of state lawmakers to end a disaster declaration at any time.

Additionally, voters approved by a similar margin a proposal that limits a disaster declaration to 21 days instead of 90 days.

Republicans supported these ballot measures in the state legislature to check on Governor Wolf, who they felt had too much executive power during COVID-19. Governor Wolf's administration campaigned heavily against these two measures as they will impact his and future governor's ability to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters and the opioid epidemic. They outlined what PA could lose if the Emergency Declaration were to end, including:

• Telehealth and other health care services provided by out-of-state providers for Pennsylvanians would end;

• Hospitals and alternative care sites would no longer be able to add capacity or repurpose facilities (i.e., beds) without having to abide by the 60-day notice requirement;

• Utility assistance for thousands of families and individuals would end, leaving people without water or electricity.

Voters also approved two additional ballot questions. The first would amend the state constitution to add anti-discrimination protections for individuals based on race and ethnicity, and the second would make fire companies with paid personnel eligible for an existing loan program for volunteer departments.