By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

Supported in part by his securing Pennsylvania’s crucial 19 electoral votes in a tight presidential race that was determined on Nov. 5, former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to become the 47th President of the United States.

Trump out-tallied Harris in the commonwealth by a vote of 3,445,783 to 3,290,357 with a little more than 50 percent of the vote, in a state that political experts deemed was the most important battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. Trump won 61 of Pennsylvania’s counties, scoring well in all corners of the state except for the southeastern “blue wall” that includes Montogomery, Delaware and Chester counties and the City of Philadelphia. Reflective of the 2020 presidential election – when voters chose Joe Biden over Trump by a margin of 57.7 percent to 40.7 percent -- 56 percent of Chester County voters supported Harris, who outpolled Trump 175,686 to 133,497.

Voter turnout for this year’s elections in Chester County was strong, as 79 percent of the county’s registered voters – 300,949 in total -- turned out at the polls. In contrast, the 2020 election saw 83.2 percent of the county’s registered voters cast their ballots.

The Nov. 5 election turned out to be a political bloodbath for Democrats on the federal level, as Republicans won control of the Senate, flipping seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. With 379 of the 435 races now called, the U.S. House of Representatives has seen the number of Democratic seats topple from 214 in 2020 to 181, as of now.

Pennsylvania Republicans also won the state attorney general’s race, with York County District Attorney Dave Sunday, a Republican, beating former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to become Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor by a vote of 3,284,107 to 2,981,360. Chester County went for DePasquale by a vote of 162,732 to 146,087.

In other important races impacting Pennsylvanians, Republican challenger Dave McCormick narrowly defeated Democrat and incumbent Bob Casey to win election as Pennsylvania’s newest U.S. senator. McCormick tallied 3,310,599 votes – 49.1 percent – to Casey’s 3,260,763 votes – 48.4 percent. In Chester County, Casey outperformed McCormick, earning 54.6 percent of the county’s votes.

In the race for the U.S. House of Representatives 6th District seat, Democratic incumbent Chrissy Houlahan earned reelection to a fourth term by defeating Republican challenger Neil Young by an overall count of 175,702 to 135,231 and a percentage margin of 56.5 percent to 43.4 percent.

In the race for the 9th Senatorial District, John Kane defeated his Republican opponent Mike Woodin by a vote of 25,363 to 21,891 (53.6 percent to 46.3 percent) to earn another term in Harrisburg. In the state senate’s 19th District, incumbent Carolyn Comitta beat Republican challenger Duane Milne 81,230 to 63,365, tallying 56 percent of the vote to Milne’s 43.7 percent.

State House of Representatives John Lawrence and Christina Sappey will also be heading back to Harrisburg following comfortable victories. Lawrence defeated Democrat Cristian Luna 20,106 to 14,333 – a percentage margin of 58 percent to 41.5 percent – while Sappey defeated Republican challenger Tina Ayala by a vote of 21,186 to 15,502, earning 57.6 percent of the vote.

In his race for another term in Harrisburg, Republican Craig Williams has defeated Democratic challenger Elizabeth Moro in the 160th Legislative District, outpolling Moro by a vote of 21,595 to 19,992.

Stay tuned to www.chestercounty.com for further developments regarding the 2024 election.

 To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].