On April 23, Pennsylvania held its primary elections to determine who will be on the ballot in the November general elections.
The presidential results were all but decided at this stage in the cycle, since in both the Democratic and Republican parties any major contestants to the front runner candidates have dropped out. Former president Donald Trump took the state over Nikki Haley with 83 percent of the Republican vote, and President Joe Biden won with 93 percent of the Democratic vote.
Neither of the candidates for the Senate were contested within their parties, setting up a race between incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D) and David McCormick (R). Casey, who has held the seat since 2007, is leading by 7 percent in polling data.
Pennsylvania’s 17 congressional districts also held primaries for each party to determine nominees for the House of Representatives. Many of these races were uncontested, but the Democratic race for the 12th congressional district, which covers Pittsburgh, featured a tighter race between the incumbent Summer Lee and challenger Bhavini Patel.
A major issue that separated the two candidates was their stance toward the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza-Israel conflict.
Despite barely taking the district in 2022, when she received 1,000 more votes than her primary challenger, Lee has been unafraid to criticize Democratic leadership, even as doing so invited support and funding for her opposition.
Lee was one of only 37 House Democrats to vote against providing Israel with $14.3 billion of military aid on April 20, and has been a vocal proponent of a cease-fire.
After Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, Lee, along with several other Democratic House members, withheld applause. Her activism has raised concerns regarding party unity going into the presidential race, with Patel playing Lee’s pro-Palestine position as a factor that may weaken the strength of the Biden campaign.
Another hallmark of this district race was the funding battle. National donors contributed on both sides. Most notable were the contributions made by Philadelphia-based Republican billionaire Jeffrey Yass, who donated $800,000 to a political committee that advertised for Patel’s campaign (spending which Lee and Patel both denounced). Lee, as the more established candidate, raised over $2 million for the election.
Ultimately, Lee took the district comfortably, with the Associated Press declaring her the victor at a 59 percent vote share. She is favored to win in November against Republican candidate James Hayes, who won an uncontested race.
The regional 17th congressional district, which represents Beaver County and northwestern parts of Allegheny County, featured uncontested races for both Chris Deluzio (D) and incumbent Rob Mercuri (R).
In the race for the state Attorney General, Eugene DePasquale won the Democratic nomination with 35 percent of the vote. David Sunday won the Republican nomination with a 70 percent vote share.
For state Auditor General, democrat Malcolm Kenyatta won the nomination with 65 percent of the vote. Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor is the uncontested Republican nominee.
Incumbent Stacy Garritty is the uncontested Republican nominee for State Treasurer. Democratic candidate Eric McClelland won a close race for the nomination with 54 percent of the votes.
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