Trump again looms large among Pa. and N.J. voters, with Congress and a governor’s chair at stake
Turnout in Pennsylvania was likely to exceed 50%, the executive director of the Committee of Seventy said.
By the time polls opened just after daybreak on what turned out to be a magnificent Election Day with the weather evoking a spring primary, the sunlight had turned the foliage on the treetops to fire.
Whether that somehow lit a fire among those who voted was arguable, but a certain energy was evident at the polls as voters cast ballots that potentially could change the balance of power in the U.S. House and the Pennsylvania Senate.
Of several congressional seats considered up for grabs, the race in solid purple Bucks County between GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Bob Harvie was among the most closely watched in the nation as talk of a Democratic “blue wave” had been building.
Voters in one of the nation’s most important swing states also were deciding on whether to return Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to Harrisburg in his race against Republican nominee Stacy Garrity. However, polls suggested strongly they already had decided, and the results affirmed that perception.
Even so, and without hot races occurring in the Philadelphia and Allegheny County population centers, turnout in Pennsylvania likely would exceed 50%, said Lauren Cristella, executive director of the nonpartisan Committee of Seventy. That would be more than respectable for a midterm election.
She added that everything appeared to have gone smoothly, and the federal monitors had not raised any issues.
Voters interviewed spoke passionately about their top issues — the state of the economy; ICE; the war with Iran; AI data centers; and of course, he who was not on the ballot, President Donald Trump.
After watching a steady stream of voter traffic at her Drexel Hill, Delaware County polling place, Democratic greeter Risa DeSilva-King, 43, remarked: “I think we have Trump to thank for that.”
Trump was on the minds of voters throughout the region. Outside Margate’s city hall, Bill Grutzmacher, 73, a retired Philadelphia police officer, said he remained a steadfast Trump supporter. “I like Donald Trump because he supports Israel and supports law and order,” he said.
Debra Fitzgerald, 67, voting in Shapiro’s hometown of Abington Township, didn’t quite agree. “This administration’s appalling,” she said.
“Trump looms over this entire midterm,” said Ashley Koning, director of the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute Center for Public Interest Polling. “But he isn’t on the ballot the way he is in a presidential year, and that distinction matters.”
It could matter particularly for the fortunes of Republican Jeff Van Drew in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District. Once heavily favored, his race against Democratic Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock tightened.
On the Pennsylvania side, in addition to the Fitzpatrick race, Democrats had high hopes for taking three other seats in Pennsylvania, including the one held by Trump loyalist Scott Perry, being challenged by Democrat Janelle Stelson.
At Monaghan Presbyterian Church in Dillsburg, York County, near Perry’s home, by 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, the parking lot was as full as it would be for a Sunday morning service as voters crammed into the brick sanctuary.
Turnout was ultra-brisk in Scranton, where incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan was in a tight race with Scranton’s Democratic mayor, Paige Cognetti.
With the popular Shapiro leading the ticket, Pennsylvania Democrats believed they had a shot at taking control of the state Senate for the first time in decades. Shapiro was expected to win overwhelmingly, a possible prelude to a run for the presidency in 2028.
Voters generally viewed him favorably, but not without at least a few reservations. Millie Grieve, 19, a Democrat voting in Swarthmore in her first federal election, voted for him although she says she disagrees with some of his policy positions, including on AI data centers. She felt he was a better choice than “someone who’s just going to be one of Trump’s lackeys.”
In Northeast Philly, Audrey Lamping voted for Shapiro, saying, “I like him, and he’s doing a good job.”
At the Erma Volunteer Fire Co. in Cape May County, voting was brisk as the sun began to set. Mike Lawrence, 81, said he was “not interested” in talk about a blue wave and predicted it would stop before it hit deep South Jersey.
“I’m voting straight Republican,” said Lawrence, who owned a driving school before retiring. “Van Drew, I just think he does a good, good job. You know, he follows up.”
Voters had their share of complaints about partisanship and divisions.
And in that tense Bucks County race, voters said they were absolutely fed up — with the ads.
The commercials — and mailers and text messages — have been flowing nonstop, they said.
“They’re coming in every hour, just about,” said Sue Sutter, 73, a retired registered Republican from Penndel, of the political text messages she has received. She deletes them and reports them as spam, she says, “but they come in the mail, too.”
“They’re killing too many trees.”
Some voters decried the negative nature of some ads.
“I think it’s disgusting and obnoxious how many millions of dollars are spent on this,” said Kathy Johnson, 71, a wealth adviser from Middletown Township and an independent. “And it gets worse and worse.”
Fitzpatrick was on pace to spend more on advertising in this race than in his last three campaigns combined, The Inquirer reported last month. At the time, Harvie was approaching $1 million in spending.
The result? In Bucks County, it’s all been difficult to avoid — and not just for those on the receiving end.
Said Gary Ray Caton, 76, a pastor from Langhorne, “Every time we see the mail person he’s cursing up a storm because he’s got to deliver it all.”
Whether the ad blitz had any effect on the outcome would be impossible to measure.
“I’m done with Fitzpatrick,” said Kathy Johnson, 71, a wealth adviser from Middletown Township. “And I’m willing to give Harvie a chance.”
“I dislike Fitzpatrick with a passion … but I would not put Harvie in,” said Gary Ray Caton, 76, a pastor from Langhorne. “I have no choice. We cannot lose Congress.”
Anthony Falk, 26, of Perkasie, is a former Marine reservist, and hoped Fitzpatrick would help end the Iran war if he held on.
Voting at Lincoln University in Chester County, student Carl Richardson, 21, had a decidedly nonpartisan perspective to offer.
“It’s a blessing to vote,” he said. “We’re the generation of the future.”
Staff writers Dugan Arnett, Jesse Bunch, Nate File, Kristen A. Graham, Zoe Greenberg, Sam Janesch, Jillian Kramer, Dana Munro, Sarah Nicell, Jess Rohan, Denali Sagner, Henry Savage, Brooke Schultz, and Vinny Vella contributed to this article.
