Local voters mirror statewide primary results

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on April 27, 2016

For the most part, residents in Chester and Delaware counties were in step with statewide Pennsylvania results in the races for president, U.S. Senator, and attorney general in Tuesday’s primary election.

In Chester County, Hillary Clinton got the nod for president on the Democratic side with 32,985 votes, or 55.2 percent, over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who received 26,046 votes representing 43.5 percent. Business mogul Donald Trump led the Republicans with 35,577, or 46.39 percent. He was followed by Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich with 23,855 or 31.11 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 14,996 or 19.55 percent, according to results from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

In Delaware County, Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, beat Sanders with an even higher margin. She tallied 44,909 votes, or 59.7 percent, while Sanders logged 29,903 votes, representing 39.7 percent. Donald Trump led the GOP contenders with 42,459 votes, or 52.23 percent. He was trailed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (23,025, 28.2 percent) and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (13,098, 16.1 percent).

Statewide, Clinton garnered 55.59 percent to Sanders’ 43.54 while Trump received 56.76 percent to 19.35 for Kasich and 21.62 for Cruz.

The Senate race produced a convincing hometown win in Delaware County for Democrat Joe Sestak, which did not carry the day. Katie McGinty, Gov. Tom Wolf’s former chief of staff, earned the right to face off in the fall against U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who ran unopposed. In Delaware County, Sestak won 64.73 percent of the vote from 44,461 supporters while McGinty received 19,256 or 28.03 percent.

In Chester County, the race resembled the state results a bit more closely with 29,384, or 50.61 percent of the votes cast for McGinty while Sestak generated 24,207, or 41.69 percent. Statewide, McGinty won 44.05 percent of the vote to Sestak’s 33.85 percent.

For the Republicans, the bid to replace embattled state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, resulted in a win for John C. Rafferty Jr., a 44^th District state senator from Montgomery County. Rafferty easily won in Delaware County with 58,377, or 84.36 percent of the vote, and in Chester County with 54,076, or 81.54 percent. His opponent was Joseph C. Peters.

On the Democratic side, Josh Shapiro prevailed with 37,373 votes, 69.04 percent, in Chester County, and 43,873 votes representing 65.20 percent in Delaware County. Shapiro, a Montgomery County commissioner, beat Stephen A. Zappala II and John Morganelli.