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Posters encouraging Penn students to vote hang on the ARCH building on Nov. 2. Credit: Jesse Zhang

Ahead of November's general midterm election, Pennsylvania voters decided which candidates would represent each political party during the primary this Tuesday.

Polling locations were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 17. On-campus residents who registered to vote in Pennsylvania were assigned to vote in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge or in room 108 of the ARCH building, according to resources provided by the student-run, non-partisan political program Penn Leads the Vote.

Over 100 voters cast their ballots in person at these two polling places. According to reporting done by The Daily Pennsylvanian, there were 99 ballots cast from divisions 11, 18, 20, 21, and 22 in Houston Hall and 51 cast in divisions 3 and 19 in the ARCH building. 

This is a significant decrease from the voting totals from last November's general election, but political groups on campus encouraged students to vote early or by absentee ballot this election as people left Philadelphia for the summer.

As of 12 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, the races for the governorship, United States House of Representatives, and the State legislature have been called. 

Currently, the U.S. Senate stands at a 50-50 partisan split, so the midterm election in November will determine who controls Congress. For the state of Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman will represent the Democrats and talk show host Mehmet Oz is in the lead to represent the Republican Party on that ballot.

The Associated Press called the Democratic race within an hour after polls closed, and Fetterman has nearly 60% of the votes at the time of publication. Earlier this week, Fetterman announced that he had suffered a stroke on Friday, May 13. Despite canceling some campaign events, he said his doctors told him that he "didn’t suffer any cognitive damage" and is on track for a quick recovery.

Oz has 31.3% of the votes at the time of publication — while former CEO of Bridgewater Associates David McCormick is trailing by 0.2% of votes. Oz is an attending physician at N.Y. Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center, and he was endorsed by former president Donald Trump. 

Three Democrats ran in PA-03 for the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), the incumbent and former Philadelphia public school teacher, was declared the winner – with no Republican candidate to face in the November election. He ran against Alexandra Hunt — who has received national recognition for her slogan, "Elect Hoes" — and Michael Cogbill, a Philadelphia native and progressive organizer. Evans beat both challengers with over 75% of the vote at the time of publication.

While Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro ran unopposed as the Democratic candidate for governor, testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday, May 16, altered his plans for Election Day. He tweeted that he was "experiencing mild symptoms" and would "be back on the campaign trail next week" ahead of the general election.

Shapiro's endorsed candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Rep. Austin Davis, similarly won his race with nearly 63% of the vote share when 90% of the vote was accounted for at the time of publication. He ran against Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Sims and former chairman of the Governor's Human Rights Advocacy Committee Ray Sosa. If elected in November, Davis would make history as Pennsylvania's first Black Lieutenant Governor, and his platform centers around creating sustainable jobs and protecting the working class.

For the Republican Party, two-term state Sen. and army veteran Doug Mastriano secured the Republican nominee for governor when the race was called around 10 p.m. on Election Day. Endorsed by Trump, his campaign centered around banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates and increasing election security after calling for an audit of the 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania. At the time of publication, Mastriano has over 44% of the vote.

The Republican candidate for the lieutenant governorship is state Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso with over 25% of the total vote share and 94% of the vote accounted for at the time of publication. She faced eight other Republicans on the ballot, and her campaign focused on creating new private-sector jobs and strengthening law enforcement.

She previously wrote to the DP that "Pennsylvania deserves a woman who has experience in both the public and private sector who will bring dignity back to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor." 

In the 8th District State Senate race, incumbent Anthony Williams kept his seat, facing off against progressive challenger Paul Prescod, with 61% of the votes and 87% of votes reported at the time of publication.

For the State House of Representatives race in the 188th District, incumbent and 2013 Engineering graduate Rick Krajewski won against James Wright — director of Community, Economic, and Real Estate Development at the People’s Emergency Center — with 70% of the vote at the time of publication.