Democrat Amanda Cappelletti Wins Election To 17th State Senate

Justin Heinze
Updated ·5 min read

NORRISTOWN, PA — Democrat Amanda Cappelletti has defeated Republican challenger Ellen Fisher to win election to Daylin Leach's former seat in the 17th senatorial district.

With some mail-in ballots still to be counted and all in-person precincts reporting in Montgomery and Delaware counties, Cappelletti held a huge lead over Fisher Wednesday morning, 91,261 to 49,284.

Update, 12:38 a.m.

Cappelletti's lead is growing to near-insurmountable levels, with about half of all mail-in ballots counted in Montgomery County, and 368 of 431 in-person precincts counted there. Counting the Delaware County results, here's where things now stand:

Capelletti: 60,161

Fisher: 27,549

10:56 p.m.

There are now 80 precincts reporting in Montgomery County, with 431 still not reporting. On the mail-in side, 103,118 of 239,336 ballots have been counted. The latest batch of returns saw almost even gains for both Cappelletti and Fisher, meaning that Cappelletti maintains a huge lead. The current tally in Montgomery County is 35,476 to 13,827. Including Delco, the totals are:

  • Cappelletti: 44,769

  • Fisher: 15,553

10:05 p.m.

Counting the rest of the vote in Montgomery County could take "40 more hours," Commissioner Ken Lawrence said Tuesday night.

9:14 p.m.

Early mail-in results in the Delaware County portion of the 17th are coming in as well, and also favor Cappelletti by a lopsided margin: 9,284 to Fisher's 1,726. Compiled mail-in results for both counties combined:

Cappelletti: 33,587

Fisher: 5,381

8:56 p.m.

Cappelletti has leapt out to a huge lead as the first mail-in ballots in Montgomery County begin to be processed. The below total only reflects Montgomery County mail-in numbers:

  • Cappelletti: 24,303

  • Fisher: 3,638

8:28 p.m.

Montgomery County saw record voter turnout Tuesday, multiple party officials and leaders said after polls closed Tuesday.

"And that’s a wrap," Cappelletti shared as polls closed. "Here’s my first thank you of many to come. Thank you to those who braved the cold to vote, protect the vote, poll watch and everything else everyone did today."

Original story

Polls have closed in Pennsylvania, and the first election results will be coming in soon for the 17th senatorial district in parts of Montgomery and Delaware counties.

There will be a new state senator representing the 17th district for the first time in a decade following Election Day 2020, as Amanda Cappelletti and Ellen Fisher vie for the seat held by longtime State Sen. Daylin Leach.

Subscribe to free Patch News Alerts for election results.

The solidly blue 17th senatorial district, covering Norristown, Haverford, Plymouth Meeting, and the surrounding area, is favored to go to the rising Democrat Cappelletti, who soundly defeated a scandal-embroiled Leach in the June primary.

Cappelletti, a 33-year-old former ACLU fellow and policy director for Planned Parenthood, is opposed by Republican Fisher. Fisher is a longtime area businesswoman and board member of the Haverford Township School District Education Foundation.

The district was one of the most compelling races in a quiet June primary season, as Cappelletti unseated longtime State Sen. Daylin Leach. With the near unanimous backing of local Democrats and Gov. Wolf, Cappelletti earned 33,857 votes to Leach's 17,950.

Unchallenged in the primary, Fisher won with 16,091 votes.

Self-identifying as part of the progressive wing and boasting endorsements from national leaders on the left of the party like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Cappelletti cites healthcare, education, and the environment as her priority issues. She's backed Gov. Wolf's coronavirus response.

"As I look around the world today – a pandemic exacerbating existing inequities in our communities, police brutality against our Black and Brown friends, and looming economic uncertainty – there is still much to be done," she said following her primary win.

Fisher, meanwhile, has expressed doubts over the decision by Pennsylvania Democratic leaders to shut the state down following the onset of the pandemic. As a small business owner, she points to supporting entrepreneurship, improving infrastructure, and reducing healthcare costs as some of her key issues. She's also consistently cast herself as a moderate looking to heal the divide.

"Let's take the extreme out of politics and send an experienced leader to Harrisburg," Fisher says.

Cappelletti has raised a significant amount of money, with $311,390 in total contributions, according to campaign finance data in the public record published by Transparency USA. She's spent $248,667.

Fisher, meanwhile, has raised $85,747 and spent $46,906.

The 17th seat has been blue for two decades. Leach has held the seat since 2009, while Democrat Constance Williams held it from 2001 to 2008.

Leach has served in the State Senate for 11 years, and was in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for six years before that. While he has won a string of re-election victories, things changed drastically when he was accused of misconduct with various female members of his staff over the years.

Gov. Wolf and numerous other state Democratic leaders called for Leach to resign, removing him from caucus. But Leach dug in, filed a defamation suit in return against his accuser, and ran ultimately foiled re-election campaign.

The municipalities in the 17th include Haverford, Radnor, Bridgeport, Norristown, East Norriton, Lower Merion, Narberth, Plymouth, Upper Merion, West Conshohocken, and Whitpain.

Despite modern Democratic dominance, Republicans do have (very) old history with this seat: the 17th was represented by a GOP state senator every year for over a century straight, from 1873 through 2000.

Republicans control both branches of the legislature in Pennsylvania, with a 28-21 majority in the senate heading into the general election.

For full coverage of the election in Pennsylvania, go here.

This article originally appeared on the Norristown Patch