North Penn races: Incumbents claim victories
As the nation’s eyes turned to Pennsylvania for a closer count of Tuesday’s ballots, the results of several local races have come into focus.
Two incumbent Democrats appear to have cruised to relatively easy victories, while an incumbent Republican appears to have held on against a Democrat challenger for another state house seat, based on the latest county vote totals as of 2:50 p.m. Wednesday.
61st District
For the state house’s 61st legislative district, incumbent Democrat Liz Hanbidge appears to have won a second term against Republican challenger Lisa Friebel, largely thanks to mail-in voting.
According to vote totals posted Wednesday by the Montgomery County Department of Voter Services and the Pennsylvania Department of State, Hanbidge received a total of 23,499 votes to 16,022 for Friebel, margins of 59.5 percent and just above 40.5 percent respectively. Of their total vote counts, Hanbidge received 8,362 votes on election day and 15,044 by mail, while Friebel received 11,903 on election day and 4,064 by mail, according to the Department of State.
Hanbidge said in a statement Wednesday that “as the counting continues I want to share my gratitude to everyone who made their voices heard by voting and to those who worked and volunteered at the polls! Thank you to all still working diligently to ensure that every vote is counted.”
Friebel could not be reached for comment by press time.
151st District
In the closest race in the North Penn region, incumbent Republican Rep. Todd Stephens appears to have fought off a challenge from Democrat and North Penn school board member Jonathan Kassa.
As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, state and county vote totals showed a victory by Stephens with 19,415 votes to 16,724 for Kassa, a margin of victory of 53.7 percent to 46.2 percent. Of their totals, Stephens won the in-person ballots by more than two-toone, totaling 13,811 on election day to 6,054 for Kassa, while the Democrat carried mail ballots by nearly a similar margin, with 10,669 for Kassa to 5,603 for Stephens.
Just af ter midnight Wednesday, Kassa thanked those who helped in his effort and noted “truly incredible turnout throughout the district for both mail-in and in-person voting.”
“As expected, the votes for my race are still being tallied. We will be sure to send an update when we have an accurate, total, and final number,” Kassa said. Stephens has not yet responded to requests for comment as of press time Wednesday afternoon.
153rd District
In the state house’s 153rd district, incumbent Democrat Ben Sanchez appears to have won a comfortable victory over Libertarian challenger Marc Bozzacco.
As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, results posted by Montgomery County gave Sanchez a commanding lead of 25,966 votes to 8,257 for Bozzacco, totals of roughly 75 percent and 25 percent respectively. Of their respective totals, Sanchez earned a total of 12,367 votes in person and 13,599 by mail, while Bozzacco won 7,220 in-person votes and 1,037 by mail, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
“While at the moment many votes in Pennsylvania remain to be counted, I am confident in the trends for my race. I am absolutely thrilled that I will have the opportunity to continue to work hard as your State Representative,” Sanchez said in a statement Wednesday.
“It is a great honor and privilege to serve my hometown, and I am grateful to all who have entrusted me again with this important role. If you know anything about me, I hope you know that you will always get my best — my heart and soul — and that applies to everyone I represent without exception. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.”
Bozzacco has not responded to a request for comment as of press time.