Voters flock to the polls for Tuesday’s midterm elections
EDITOR’S NOTE: Results from Tuesday’s midterm elections came in too late for Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper, but stories on all of the races can be found online at www.observer-reporter.com or www.heraldstandard.com.
Gorgeous fall weather Tuesday made for a beautiful day to vote in the midterm elections as precincts across Western Pennsylvania reported turnout that ranged anywhere from slow and steady to a brisk pace.
There were a variety of competitive races on the ballot, with important state Senate and House seats up for grabs to determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control the Legislature.
The local race that might have the biggest implications on the balance of power in Harrisburg was the 46th State Senate District election between three-term Republican state Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Carroll Township and independent challenger Jodi Borello of South Franklin.
Outside the Franklin Township offices in Greene County, Larry Freeman said he had been most motivated by that race and voted for Borello over Bartolotta, who he views as bad for the corrections system.
“I worked in the prison system for 25 years,” he said. “She’s very anti-prison, wants to release people, and we don’t need it.”
Elsewhere in that Senate district, which includes all of Washington and Greene counties and the southern sliver of Beaver County, the incumbent had support in what could end up being a close race.
According to Kathy Buczynski and her husband, Anthony, they want to see candidates pursue a strong pro-life agenda, stop communism and keep transgender athletes out of high school sports. Cost of living issues are “secondary” to these moral imperatives, according to Anthony Buczynski, who cast his ballot at their Cecil Township polling place.
Meanwhile, Randell Marine thinks that President Donald Trump is doing better in his second term than his first, assessing his overall job performance as “excellent.” Marine said he is excited to support incumbent Republican candidates down his entire ballot, including Bartolotta, U.S Rep. Guy Reschenthaler and state Rep. Jason Ortitay.
Even though Trump was not on the ballot in the midterm election, many voters seemed to be motivated by Trump’s second term to vote. As a traditionally deep-red corner of the state, Trump won Washington, Greene and Fayette counties by strong margins over his Democratic opponents in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
As a public schoolteacher in Washington County, Lily Connor said that Trump’s effort to “diminish” the federal Department of Education was a key motivator behind her ballot decisions.
“I’m extremely worried for the next two years of his agenda,” she said at her precinct in Cecil Township.
Mike Gioella, who was waiting outside the polling place at Waynesburg’s borough office on High Street shortly before polls opened at 7 a.m., said his votes were driven by concerns about affordability and the state of the economy. He also wanted officials that would put a check on Trump, who he “can’t stand.”
“I don’t like the way our country is going,” he said. “I’d like to see more Democratic people that are representatives that are going to follow the Constitution, and not one man that’s in power. I’m not registered Republican, Democrat, anything like that. I’m not even independent. I’m just a voter.”
Charlie Licata, who was voting in Cecil Township, said he prioritizes candidates that “play nice with each other,” and follows science.
“I want to vote for people who aren’t embarrassing to vote for,” he said.
Turnout appeared to differ widely depending on locations, with some election officials reporting heavy voter participation and others seeing a slower than expected pace.
Fayette County Elections Director Marybeth Kuznik described turnout as “somewhat brisk” and said the nice weather probably helped bring people out to the polls.
“According to unofficial reports from polling places, the turnout this midterm has been really good,” Kuznik said.
She said her office has worked tirelessly to notify 300 voters who did not get their mail-in ballots due to an unknown error that was announced Friday. She said the office is working with the state Department of State to identify the problem and ensure the same issue does not happen again.
“A lot of people who were reached said they would come to polls to vote with a provisional ballot or come (to the elections office) and get a new mail-in ballot,” Kuznik said. “We want to make sure in the future this is corrected.”
Greene County Elections Director Josephine Weingardt said early Tuesday afternoon everything had been running smoothly so far. That sentiment was echoed by Greene County Commission Chairman Jared Edgreen, who also chairs the county’s elections board, as he toured the western part of the county to check out polling places there.
“Everything seems to be smooth,” Edgreen said. “We’re seeing slower turnout in the morning, but we hope it improves in the afternoon and evening. It’s a beautiful day.”
As of Tuesday morning, 1,938 of the 2,189 Greene County voters who requested a mail-in ballot had turned theirs in, about an 89% return rate. Greene County’s Franklin Township East precinct had seen what judge Jean Scott called “steady, but not overwhelming” turnout.
There were some glitches at several polling stations across the region.
The electronic polling book at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Chartiers Township was temporarily offline Tuesday morning, although voters who arrived at the time were permitted to vote with an emergency special ballot.
Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said voters were checked into a paper poll book during that time and 23 voters cast their vote through emergency special ballots, which are hand-marked ballots and not provisional. Some voters said they were not required to sign into the paper book, but were still able to cast their vote through the emergency ballot, which will be counted with the rest of the ballots from that location Tuesday night.
Elsewhere in Washington County, a water main break at the Bentleyville Municipal Complex caused minor inconveniences for voters but never closed the polls, while a paper jam in one of the machines at St. Mary Church in Cecil Township was quickly fixed.
Many voters said they were happy to perform their civic duty of voting in the election and participating in democracy.
Mary Anne Marion of Uniontown voted to preserve her rights and to keep what she believes in.
“I believe the way the country is going now it is important to vote,” she said. “I am voting for the freedom of religion and speech. As well as our country as a whole, I would like to see it stay that way.”
Simon Ghezzi, also from Uniontown, voted because she said it was an important duty to let her voice be heard.
“I think it’s important to vote now more than ever,” he said. “Especially in Fayette County, we have such a small percentage of people voting that every single vote matters.”
Freeman, who ran and lost in the Republican primary for Greene County commissioner in 2023, called voting a civic duty.
“Hopefully we get a lot of people out to do it,” he said. “I think I was No. 81, and it’s been open for about an hour. So hopefully that’ll parlay into a good turnout.”
Staff writers Mike Jones, Garrett Neese, Conner Goetz and Logan Cottrell contributed to this story.