Update at 11/9 at 1:42 p.m.
WHERE THINGS STAND:
Last night, Democrats secured consequential seats in Pennsylvania’s governor and United States Senate races.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) defeated State. Sen Doug Mastriano (R-33) for the state’s governorship with 55.7 percent of the vote.
Lt. Governor John Fetterman (D) picked up a seat for Democrats in the U.S. Senate. He defeated Mehmet Oz (R) with 50.4 percent of the vote.
Around Main Campus, Incumbent U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle (D) and Dwight Evans (D) won against their opponents, Aaron Bashir (R) and Christopher Hoeppner (Socialist Workers Party) in the U.S. 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts, respectively.
Philadelphians cast their ballots today in the 2022 midterm elections, including consequential races for the state’s open United States Senate seat and governorship.
Philadelphians’ ballots also included Lt. Governor and U.S. and local representatives and senators. Voters also have a say in two ballot questions. Polls close at 8 p.m.
The state’s Senate and gubernatorial races serve as an inflection point for issues like public safety and abortion. Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) and Lt. Gov John Fetterman (D) have campaigned on abortion access in their respective senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. Their opponents, State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33) and Mehmet Oz (R), are in favor of restricting the procedure.
The winning candidate in the U.S. Senate race will help determine party control in the current 50-50 split body.
More than 4 million registered voters in Philadelphia are Democrats, while almost 3.5 million are Republicans, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The Temple News will be tracking the results of the election as they become available. Check back on this page to stay updated with the latest on all things Election Day.
STATEWIDE ELECTIONS
United States Senate
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has won the U.S. Senate race against Mehmet Oz. Fetterman has served as the 34th lieutenant governor since 2019 and was the mayor of Braddock, located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2009 to 2015. As Mayor of Braddock, Fetterman pushed to lower the town’s crime and poverty rates. Some of Fetterman’s top issues include creating more goods in the U.S., cutting taxes for working people, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, reducing out-of-pocket health care costs and ending price gouging,
Mehmet Oz (R) is known as the host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and is an author and retired cardiothoracic surgeon. He also taught at Columbia University until 2015. Some of Oz’s top issues include growing the economy by combating inflation, overturning regulations on coal and natural gas production and distancing U.S. relations with China.
Pennsylvania Governor
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) won the race for governor of Pennsylvania. Shapiro is from Abington, Pennsylvania, and served as a state representative from 2005 to 2011 in the state’s 153rd legislative district and as Montgomery County Commissioner from 2011 to 2017. Shapiro supports the right to an abortion, stating that he will veto any law restricting abortion rights.
Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano (R) is a U.S. Army Veteran and served from 1986 to 2017 before becoming state senator for the state’s 33rd senatorial district in 2019. Mastriano opposes the right to an abortion and would sign a Heart Beat Bill, state legislation that would ban all abortions after six weeks, WHYY reported. Mastriano believes abortions should legally be treated as murder, The New York Times reported.
CITYWIDE ELECTIONS
U.S. House District 2
Brendan Boyle (D-Incumbent) has been reelected to represent the U.S. 2nd Congressional District. He lives in Northeast Philadelphia and has served the 2nd Congressional District of Philadelphia since 2019, which encompasses part of Center City, all of Northeast Philadelphia and all of North Philadelphia east of Broad Street, including most of Main Campus. Boyle signed a letter in 2020 to then–Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, urging the Department of Education to reassess the financial burdens of COVID-19 faced by college students and protect their right to affordable education.
Aaron Bashir (R) is a resident of Philadelphia’s Castor Gardens and is a 2006 alumnus with a bachelor of business administration alumnus. Bashir is running on school choice, which allows students to access public education funds no matter what school they chose. He also wants to lower taxes and government spending and opposes abortion rights.
U.S. House District 3
Dwight Evans (D-Incumbent) has been reelected to represent the U.S. 3rd Congressional District. He has represented Pennsylvania’s 3rd congressional district since 2019. Evans is a resident of the West Oak Lane and represents West Philadelphia and Parts of North, Center City and South Philadelphia. Evans is in favor of additional housing in Philadelphia and hopes to replicate Boston’s Back Streets, a program that encouraged light industrial and commercial growth, to support the small, industrial businesses that surround cities and bolster communities.
Christopher Hoeppner (Socialist Workers Party) is running against Evans. Hoeppner is a freight rail conductor and a member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union. SWP campaigners collected more than 2,400 signatures to secure him a spot in the general election.
BALLOT MEASURES
Philadelphians will vote on two policies surrounding the creation of an aviation department and technical school graduate opportunities. They are “yes” or “no” questions that will become amendments to the city charter.
QUESTION #1:
Question 1 has passed and will become an amendment to Philadelphia’s City Charter. With 67.89 percent of votes in favor, the City of Philadelphia will create a new Department of Aviation that will control all airport related functions.
QUESTION #2
Question 2 has passed and will become an amendment to Philadelphia’s City Charter. With 70.89 percent of votes in favor, the City of Philadelphia will provide technical school graduates with an automatic 5-point boost when taking exams for civil service jobs.
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