Valley voters chose GOP candidates; turned out to vote

Nov. 10—Republican candidates were clear winners across the Valley counties during Tuesday night's general election, and turnout was better than usual, according to unofficial results and local officials.

Voters in Montour, Northumberland, Union and Snyder counties chose state Sen. Doug Mastriano over governor-elect Attorney General Josh Shapiro for governor and television personality Mehmet Oz over U.S. Senate-elect Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the two statewide races with wide-reaching implications.

In Montour County, Mastriano topped Shapiro, 3,635 votes to 2,336. Oz took the county 3,850 to 2,018. In Northumberland County, Mastriano won 64 of 74 precincts and Oz won 71 of 74. Mastriano and Oz also won over voters in Snyder County (66.56% and 69.55%, respectively) and Union County (55.37% and 58.65%).

Montour County Solicitor Michael Dennehy said he was impressed by voter participation in the county

"One of the highest I've seen in non-presidential off-year elections. and I've been involved in counting votes since the 1990s," he said.

Of 12,301 voters registered in the county, 61 percent (6,137) voted.

"And that doesn't count the write-ins and absentees," Dennehy said. "It's possible that when all is said and done, the participation rate could get closer to 65 percent."

By mid-morning Friday, all valid votes, including provisionals, will have been counted, Dennehy said.

As of Tuesday night, Dennehy said a total of 1,899 mail-ins and absentee ballots were sent out. Of that, 1,734 of them were returned. A 91 percent return rate. "Amazing," Dennehy said, praising the voters in Montour County for turning out.

The highest percentage of participation was in Mayberry Township (196 registered voters, 135 ballots cast, or 68.8 percent), and Limestone Township (65.9 percent of 585 registered voters).

The largest number of votes came out of Mahoning 1 Precinct, 783 votes.

Northumberland County saw 'huge turnout'

In Northumberland County, Shapiro won Kulpmont Borough 3, Mount Carmel Borough 2 and 4, Shamokin City 3, 5, 6 and 7, Riverside Borough, and Sunbury City 2 and 5, according to unofficial results.

Fetterman, the Democrat who won the seat of U.S. senator, only won three precincts in Northumberland County — Kulpmont Borough 3, Shamokin City 5 and Riverside — and tied 130-130 in Mount Carmel Borough 4 with his opponent Republican Mehmet Oz. The remaining precincts voted in favor of Oz, according to unofficial results.

Democrats Amanda R. Waldman, who ran for the U.S. representative seat of the ninth district, and Ryan Mock, who ran for the state representative seat in Pennsylvania's 107th district, both only won one precinct — Kulpmont Borough 3 — out of 74 precincts for Waldman and 41 for Mock. Republicans Dan Muesser, Waldman's opponent, and Joanne Stehr, Mock's opponent, won the other precincts in their race in Northumberland County, according to unofficial results.

Out of 57,678 registered voters, 32,502 votes were cast on Tuesday — a turnout of 56.35 percent. That included 27,697 votes on election day and 4,805 mail-in or absentee votes, according to unofficial results.

"We had a huge turnout," said Northumberland County Elections Director Lindsay Phillips. "Everything went great. It was a good night. Poll workers were happy. It was a busy day."

The provisional ballots have not yet been counted, she said.

GOP Valley legislators retain positions

In Snyder and Union counties, voters overwhelmingly chose incumbent Republican Glenn "GT" Thompson for state House over challenger Mike Molesevich, of Union County. Thompson took 73.95 percent of the votes in Snyder County and 62.04 percent in Union County. Thompson retained his seat.

Stephanie Borowicz, also a Republican, also retained her House seat against challenger Denise Maris. Post-redistricting, Borowicz's 76th House District includes all of Clinton County and Buffalo, Hartley, Kelly, Lewis, Limestone, West Buffalo townships and Hartleton, Lewisburg, Mifflinburg and New Berlin in Union County. In those Union County municipalities, Borowicz took 66.96% of the votes over Maris.

More than 60 percent of registered voters turned out in both Snyder (67.46%) and Union counties (60.95%), according to the unofficial results from election night.