Updated 5/28 at 8:17 p.m.
Philadelphians cast their ballots on May 18 as part of Pennsylvania’s primary election, which will determine the candidates that will represent each party in the general election on Nov. 2.
Philadelphians’ ballots included local races for the offices of district attorney, city controller, judges of the court of common pleas and judges of the municipal court, and statewide races for positions as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court and judges of the Commonwealth Court. Voters also weighed in on five ballot measures, according to the PhiladelphiaVotes website.
Pennsylvania is one of nine states that holds a closed primary election, meaning that voters can only vote for candidates affiliated with their political party, according to Ballotpedia.
The majority of Philadelphians are registered in the Democratic Party, with nearly seven times as many Democrats as Republicans registered in Philadelphia County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Forty-six percent of all registered voters in Pennsylvania are registered Democrats, while 39 percent of all registered voters in Pennsylvania are registered Republicans, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The Temple News is tracking the election returns from the May 18 Pennsylvania and Philadelphia primary elections and will be updating our coverage of the races as more votes are counted:
CITY ELECTIONS
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Results as of 5/27 at 4:24 p.m.
Larry Krasner (D-Incumbent): 66.78%
Carlos Vega (D): 33.13%
Charles Peruto (R): 94.93%
The Associated Press has projected that Krasner will win the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney.
The district attorney prosecutes crimes on behalf of the City of Philadelphia and serves a four-year term, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Larry Krasner, who has been Philadelphia’s district attorney since 2018, ran against Carlos Vega, a Pennsylvania homicide prosecutor, to be the Democratic nominee for district attorney.
Krasner’s campaign platform includes exonerating people who were wrongfully convicted, ending unnecessary incarceration and ending money bail, while Vega’s platform included advocating for new gun laws, improved community relations with law enforcement and the prohibition of cash bail for people charged with misdemeanors.
Republican Charles Peruto, a Philadelphia attorney, ran unopposed for the Republican party’s nomination for district attorney. Peruto’s campaign platform includes establishing a judicial commission to appoint city judges, instead of having citizens vote for them, prosecuting heroin and unprescribed pills possession or use as a crime and converting a vacant county jail into a drug rehabilitation center.
CITY CONTROLLER
Results as of 5/27 at 4:24 p.m.
Rebecca Rhynhart (D-Incumbent): 99.68%
The Associated Press has projected that Rhynhart will win the Democratic nomination for city controller. Rhynhart has been the city controller since 2018 and ran unopposed for the Democratic party’s nomination for city controller.
The city controller is the chief auditor for the city’s government and school district and serves a four-year term, according to the city controller’s website.
There were no Republican candidates for city controller for this primary election, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
JUDGE OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Results as of 5/27 at 4:24 p.m.
The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas is a trial court that hears civil and criminal cases and is split into three divisions including the Trial Division, the Family Division and the Orphans’ Division, according to the Philadelphia Courts website. The judge of the Court of Common Pleas oversees original civil actions brought by and against Pennsylvania, as well as appeals from state agencies and the Court of Common Pleas.
There were 16 Democratic candidates in total for judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The court currently has eight vacancies, so voters were instructed to vote for no more than eight candidates, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
The follow eight candidates are in the lead with 100 percent of Philadelphia’s divisions reporting their election results, as of May 27 at 4:24 p.m.:
Nick Kamau (D): 9.54%
Wendi Barish (D): 9.29%
Cateria McCabe (D-Incumbent): 9.03%
Betsy Wahl (D): 8.17%
Chris Hall (D): 8.01%
Michele Hangley (D): 6.88%
Craig Levin (D): 6.87%
Daniel Sulman (D-Incumbent): 6.76%
There were no Republican candidates for this primary election, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
JUDGE OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT
Results as of 5/27 at 4:24 p.m.
Judges of the Philadelphia Municipal Court preside over trials for a limited range of criminal and civil cases, according to the Pennsylvania Courts website.
There are currently three vacancies on the court, so voters were instructed to select no more than three candidates, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
The following percentages are as of May 27 at 4:24 p.m. with 100 percent of Philadelphia’s divisions reporting their election returns:
Greg Yorgey-Girdy (D): 27.82%
Michael Lambert (D): 26.95%
George Twardy (D): 24.05%
Barbara Thomson (D): 20.94%
There were no Republican candidates for this primary election, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
STATEWIDE ELECTIONS
JUSTICE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT
Results as of 5/28 at 8:17 p.m.
Maria McLaughlin (D): 100%
Kevin Brobson: (R): 52.25%
Patricia McCullough (R): 32.82%
Paula Patrick (R): 14.93%
The Associated Press has projected that McLaughlin will win the Democratic nomination for Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. McLaughlin, who is currently a judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination to fill the vacant justice position on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
The Associated Press has projected Brobson, a judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court since 2010, will win the Republican nomination for Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Justices on the state’s Supreme Court preside over the highest court in Pennsylvania’s judicial system and serve a 10-year term, according to the Pennsylvania Courts website. Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Candidates are vying to take over the seat of Republican Justice Thomas Saylor, whose term will end on Dec. 31, according to Ballotpedia.
JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT
Results as of 5/28 at 8:17 p.m.
Timika Lane (D): 48.81%
Jill Beck (D): 39.70%
Bryan Neft (D) 11.49%
Megan Sullivan (R): 100%
The Associated Press has projected that Lane, a judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, will win the Democratic nomination for judge of the Superior Court.
The Associated Press has projected that Sullivan will win the Republican nomination for judge of the Superior Court. Sullivan, a Temple University Beasley School of Law alumna, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for judge of the Superior Court, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
Judges of the Pennsylvania Superior Court preside over the state’s intermediate appellate court, which is responsible for hearing appeals in criminal and most civil cases that come from the Courts of Common Pleas, and cases involving children and families, according to the Pennsylvania Courts website.
Judges of the Pennsylvania Superior Court serve 10-year terms. One seat on the Superior Court is currently vacant, according to Ballotpedia.
JUDGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH COURT
Results as of 5/28 at 8:17 p.m.
The judge of the Commonwealth Court presides over the other statewide intermediate appellate court which hears civil cases brought by or against Pennsylvania and appeals from state agencies and the Court of Common Pleas, according to the Pennsylvania Courts website. The court is made up of nine judges who have 10-year terms, according to Ballotpedia.
There are two vacancies on the Commonwealth Court, so voters were instructed to vote for no more than two candidates, according to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Website.
Lori Dumas (D): 29.71%
David Spurgeon (D): 26.49%
Amanda Green-Hawkins (D): 25.56%
Sierra Street (D): 18.25%
Stacy Marie Wallace (R): 50.31%
Drew Crompton (R-Incumbent): 49.69%
The Associated Press has projected that Dumas, a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, will win the Democratic nomination for one of the open judge positions for the Commonwealth Court. The Associated Press has yet to project another Democratic primary winner for judge of the Commonwealth Court, as of May 19 at 8:53 p.m.
The Associated Press has projected that both Wallace, an attorney with experience working in both the public and private sector, and Crompton, an incumbent judge of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, will win the Republican primary for judge of the Commonwealth Court.
BALLOT MEASURES
Results as of 5/28 at 8:17 p.m.
Question 1: Should the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to give the General Assembly the power to terminate or extend disaster emergency declaration and relief, instead of the Governor, by passing a resolution with a simple majority?
Yes: 52.02%
No: 47.98%
The Associated Press has projected that the Pennsylvania Constitution will be amended to give the General Assembly the power to terminate or extend disaster emergency declaration and relief, instead of the Governor, by passing a resolution with a simple majority.
Question 2: Should the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended so that disaster emergency declarations will expire after 21 days, regardless of the severity of the disaster, unless the General Assembly extends the disaster emergency?
Yes: 51.94%
No: 48.06%
The Associated Press has projected that the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended so that disaster emergency declarations will expire after 21 days, regardless of the severity of the disaster, unless the General Assembly extends the disaster emergency.
Question 3: Should the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to add a new section stating that Pennsylvanians’ equal rights shall not be violated based on the person’s race or ethnicity?
Yes: 72.33%
No: 27.67%
The Associated Press has projected that the Pennsylvania Constitution will be amended to add a new section stating that Pennsylvanians’ equal rights shall not be violated based on the person’s race or ethnicity.
Question 4 (Referendum): Do you support making municipal fire departments and emergency medical service companies eligible to apply for loans from state programs that are already available to volunteer fire departments? The state program will not receive any additional funding.
Yes: 72.90%
No: 27.10%
The Associated Press has projected that voters have approved the referendum.
Question 5: Should the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to expand the Board of License Inspection Review to a three-person panel that can hear and decide cases?
Results as of 5/27 at 4:24 p.m.
Yes: 78.74%
No: 21.26%
As of May 27 at 4:24 p.m., 78.7 percent of voters are in favor of amending the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter with 100 percent of Philadelphia’s divisions reporting their election results.
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