Pizza and politics are a newsroom tradition

Reporters feasting on pizza during election night is a newsroom tradition. During Tuesday’s primary it was no different.

Everybody else worked from home while reporter Lucas Rodgers and I met on primary night, while the presses hummed, at the printing plant in Eagle.

Rodgers referred to election night as a reporter’s most exciting night of the year. I agree.

There was plenty of time to wait. For several hours, we almost exclusively talked politics and made predictions. Who would likely win? Who didn’t have a chance? And why?

In these strange times for newspapers it’s still our duty to keep voters informed before and immediately after an election.

We don’t tell you who to vote for, except sometimes on the editorial pages, but we do try to cover a politician’s views and a give a little background in the contested races.

Only one incumbent didn’t respond to my interview request. Mostly we cannibalized earlier articles and culled information from websites.

Usually, to keep it fair, I ask every candidate just two main questions: What have you done to merit the vote and what would you change if elected?

We pushed the dropdead deadline back a bit and waited until past midnight for all the results to be published at the county website, www. chesco.org. And of course, we know that nothing is official until the results are certified.

This year I finished up at 12:50 a.m. and Rodgers worked on editing for a bit longer.

The adrenaline was pumping and we were fueled by that pizza.

Win or lose, I’ve called many candidates on election night to ask for a quote, after the results point in a certain direction.

As a reporter for the Phoenix, I talked to a losing candidate who bluntly said he would never, ever run again for an elected office since the public had offered an opinion.

This year I made a late call to Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone who lost in the statewide lieutenant governor’s race.

She wasn’t as upbeat as she’d been when I talked to her before the polls

closed, but still, she was concerned for the party, and noted the need to support incumbent candidates Sen. Casey and Gov. Wolf in November’s general election.

I half-jokingly told Cozzone that I’d make a terrible politician, because if even one person voted against me, I’d be demoralized. She seemed to understand.

It’s exciting waiting for the numbers to come in, while anticipating the results.

The interesting question this year is why did Democratic candidates from the 155th, 160th and 167th state Legislative Districts win by landslide margins?

And why did Lisa Longo and Bill Scott receive so many votes for Democratic State Committee when others were ignored? Some questions we will never know the answers to.

When I worked in Phoenixville, we just couldn’t wait. The results are posted on the door of each polling place prior to the ballots being transported to West Chester for a tally.

The municipalities located farthest from the County Seat generally seem to take a little bit longer to arrive.

After looking at those postings, and with a little bit of driving in Phoenixville, we’d do a little math, and so were likely among the first to know who had won or lost. Others did the same.

Those who cared to look, and were refreshing the county website, would only know a few hours later, but we checked out the polling place doors since we just couldn’t wait.

We’d see that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington almost always earned write-in votes. Somebody, rather than make a choice between viable candidates, must have felt disenfranchised.

Voter turnout is most always a subject for discussion. Do we make a statement by voting for Washington, or like many, by not voting at all?

Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline critic, state Sen. Andy Dinniman suggested that instead of rubber stamping Gov. Wolf on the ballot, to instead write in “No Sunoco.”

I wonder how many people fought back as Dinniman had suggested.

Before the results were fully tallied, Rodgers and I were already discussing the general election in November. By the end of the night, the pizza was cold but still edible.

There will be a lot occurring between now and then, and I can’t wait to chew on some hot pizza in November.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA West Chester Ward 4 at the public works center was slow Tuesday morning, there had only been 14 voters by 11 a.m.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Campaign workers stand outside the Malven polling place at Malvern Baptist Church Tuesday afternoon.