Election 2022 Region's voters maintain local status quo, back losing candidates for Senate, governor

Nov. 10—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Voters in Cambria, Somerset and Bedford counties have maintained the status quo in local offices and backed candidates who lost in two major statewide races, according to unofficial results.

Most of the regional results were known long before Election Day, Tuesday.

Republican U.S. Reps. Dr. John Joyce (13th Congressional District) and Guy Reschenthaler (14th Congressional District) ran unopposed, as did state Reps. Jim Rigby (71st Legislative District), Carl Walker Metzgar (69th), Leslie Rossi (59th), Jesse Topper (78th) and first-time candidate Dallas Kephart (73rd).

State Sen. Pat Stefano, also a Republican, won re-election in the 32nd Senatorial District.

The lone Democrat in a sea of red, state Rep. Frank Burns, of East Taylor Township, retained his seat in the 72nd Legislative District, which now includes Johnstown after redistricting.

Cambria, Somerset and Bedford counties' voters overwhelmingly backed Republicans, state Sen. Doug Mastriano in his run for governor and Dr. Mehmet Oz, a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Both lost.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has been declared the winner in the gubernatorial race with approximately 56% of the unofficial vote, compared to 42% for Mastriano, a comfortable margin that was predicted by most polls. Fellow Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman defeated Oz in a race that was considered to be a toss-up.

"What's surprising is how little big surprises there were," said G. Terry Madonna, senior fellow in residence for political affairs at Millersville University.

Voters considered a wide range of issues, including inflation, abortion, education, health care, crime, the economy and election security.

"What voters wanted was candidates who shared their values, and were honest and had integrity," Madonna said, "and that doesn't really surprise me, given other polls that I have seen about what voters care about in general."

'Higher' turnout

Turnout unofficially was 65.71% in Cambria County, with 56,675 of 86,245 registered voters casting ballots.

Somerset County reached voter turnout of 58% — 28,454 out of 48,845 — which Tina Pritts, the county's director of voter registration and elections, described as "very good."

"It wasn't as high as a presidential (year), but it is higher than what we're used to seeing," Pritts said.

Mail-in voting was once again popular, after Pennsylvania's law changed in 2019 to allow no-excuse mail-in voting.

Approximately 9,700 mail-in votes were cast in Cambria, while Somerset County and Bedford County topped 4,300 and 2,800 mail-in votes, respectively.

"The last two years, everything has changed as far as the mail-in ballots, the absentee ballots," Pritts said. "Everybody's numbers have increased, which is automatically going to increase your turnout, so it's hard for me to judge because, yes, it's higher.

"As far as average for a midterm, it's higher, but it also includes all those mail-in ballots, too, that people, four years ago, they would not have filled out."

'A guaranteed vote'

The majority of mail-in votes were cast for Democrats. For example, Fetterman received 6,395 mail-in votes in Cambria County, where Shapiro got 7,076.

"I think it's wonderful that we have mail-in ballots. ... Mail-in ballots have expanded voting for everyone, especially for people who might not know their schedule," Cambria County Democratic Party Chairwoman Nina Licastro said. "I'm talking firefighters, anyone who has to work overtime. They might have to stay at work. Say you get a flat tire, you get sick — it's nice to be able to vote beforehand."

Democrats, locally and nationwide, have been far more receptive to using mail-in ballots than Republicans, with President Donald Trump and his supporters making unfounded allegations that illegal activity involving mail-ins played a role in him losing the 2020 presidential election.

"There's a large faction of Republicans that just don't feel comfortable with the mail-in ballots, and therefore they don't use them," Cambria County Republican Party Chairwoman Jackie Kulback said. "I'm talking across the whole gamut of low-propensity voters up to the frequent voters. Where we lose it is that those mail-in ballots are a guaranteed vote."

Kulback said she has voted by mail ever since it was an option, which provides her the opportunity to track her ballot online.

'His constituents'

The way Cambria County processes and posts election results created some suspense in learning who won the 72nd Legislative District race for the state House.

Republican challenger Renae Billow led by about 500 votes after all same-day votes were counted in the district's 58 precincts.

But the mail-in ballots went heavily to Burns. He received 3,871 mail-in votes versus 1,048 for Billow. Those votes were not posted to the Cambria County Elections Office website until shortly before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. That gave Burns an unofficial victory, 14,060 votes to 11,757.

Burns, who was elected to his eighth term, campaigned primarily on his experience.

"I'm very happy with the local results," Licastro said. "I'm very happy that Frank, Rep. Burns, has remained in the state House. I think he is a perfect example of someone who is fighting for the people of this area. I don't always agree with him, but he is listening to his voters. He's listening to his constituents."

The candidates and outside parties likely combined to put more than $1 million into the race, according to Licastro's estimation, which would make it the most costly non- Congressional race in Cambria County history.

"But that just goes to show you how expensive campaigns have become, and it's out of control," Licastro said.

Burns and the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee aired a commercial that alleged Billow "scammed" taxpayers by receiving a partial mortgage forbearance through a federal program to assist homeowners during the COVID-19 pandemic and then soon thereafter bought a vacant lot with personal money.

Billow denies any wrongdoing and has sued Burns in court.

"The campaign that I ran was positive on what I would like to do for the community versus my opponent, who told outright lies about me," Billow said. "It's sad that ... lies can win out over positive messaging."

Burns has not responded to any requests for an interview since winning re-election.

Fetterman and Shapiro outperformed how President Joe Biden did in the local area during his successful 2020 campaign.

Biden collected 30.79% of the vote in Cambria, 21.35% in Somerset and 15.84% in Bedford. Shapiro got 40.60%, 29.05% and 21.20% in those counties, respectively. Fetterman collected 33.38%, 23.52% and 17.03%.

Fetterman emphasized what he called an "every county, every vote" campaign approach, including at a rally in Johnstown last month.

Shapiro launched his general election campaign in Johnstown. He made visits to places where "other Democrats don't often win," according to a statement his campaign released on Wednesday.

"From the first week of his campaign for governor, Josh Shapiro made it clear that he would go everywhere, talk about the issues that matter, and show up in Pennsylvanians' communities — rural, urban, and suburban alike," his campaign said. "He talked about lowering costs and growing the economy, improving our schools, and investing in public safety — while contrasting his positive vision with Doug Mastriano's divisive and dangerous extremism."

Mastriano and Oz stumped in Cambria County. They also held a group rally with Trump in Latrobe the weekend before Election Day.