Penn voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates on Nov. 4 as the party made gains in elections nationwide.
On Election Day, 2,126 ballots were cast across four primary polling locations on Penn’s campus — the ARCH building, Houston Hall, Walnut Street West Library, and Civic House. Turnout approached nearly half the number of votes cast in last year’s presidential election — an unprecedented campus showing for an off-cycle election year.
“I was just really impressed by what I was seeing in just today’s energy, attention, preparation, and turnout — it far exceeded the expectations of everybody I know,” Executive Director of Penn’s Office of Government and Community Affairs Dawn Deitch told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “I’ve done this for more than 20 years on Penn’s campus, and it was just impressive in every way.”
Of the votes cast in the Philadelphia district attorney race across Penn’s four polling locations on Tuesday, 90.2% went to Democratic incumbent Larry Krasner while 9.8% went to Republican challenger Pat Dugan.
The district attorney race was a rematch of the Democratic primary earlier this year, in which Krasner defeated Dugan with 64% of the vote. Krasner had been expected to run unopposed before a write-in campaign resulted in Dugan’s nomination as the Republican candidate.
First elected in 2017, Krasner has served two four-year terms as district attorney. His tenure has been characterized by reform efforts, including the termination of cash bail for most nonviolent offenses and the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit aimed at exonerating wrongful convictions.
Krasner has been a regular critic of 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump, promising to use legal means against the president if the National Guard were to be deployed in Philadelphia.
All three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention won their elections. Justices Kevin Dougherty, Christine Donohue, and David Wecht each won retention with more than 94% of voters at Penn’s four polling locations voting in favor.
RELATED:
Penn professor finds increase in political conversations between like-minded people, intolerance
GET-UP announces strike authorization vote at press conference with elected officials
The results mean the court will remain with a Democratic majority through 2028. If the justices had not won their retention votes, the court would have had a 2-2 ideological split until the next judicial elections in 2027.
The partisan makeup of the court is projected to determine its handling of key issues moving forward in Pennsylvania, including election administration and abortion rights. Retaining all three justices in Tuesday’s election means a Democratic majority will preside over the court for the 2028 presidential election, for which Pennsylvania will play a key role as a swing state.
While only one statewide judge in Pennsylvania history has ever lost a retention election, Democrats went into Election Day with concern over three races amid rumors of unprecedented Republican financial campaigns against three justices. Reports alleged that millions of dollars have been spent on campaigns and advertising for this year’s races.
The Pennsylvania retention vote marked the latest in a nationwide trend of politicizing judicial elections. Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election saw over $100 million in campaign spending.
Democratic City Controller Christie Brady also defeated Republican nominee Ari Patrinos in her reelection campaign. Brady has said she will focus on the underground economy, gun violence, and the opioid and drug crisis in her next term.
Brady is a 30-year veteran of the Office of the City Controller, which conducts independent audits into Philadelphia’s finances. She has served as Philadelphia city controller since 2022, when she was appointed as acting city controller by former Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
“I really feel the students talked to each other and prepared themselves for this day, did the work,” Deitch said about voter engagement across campus. “They showed up to problem-solve together on our campus today.”
Her sentiment was echoed by student groups on campus, which spent the day tabling on Locust Walk.
2025 College graduate and first-year master’s degree student at the Fels Institute of Government Sarah Oburu — who serves as a director for Penn Leads the Vote — told the DP that a “culture of civic engagement on campus” contributed to get out the vote efforts.
“I think any form of engagement with voters helps to drive up voter turnout,” College sophomore and Penn Democrats Vice President Tejas Bhatia told the DP. “Any of the tables that are outside — whether it’s ours, whether it’s Penn Leads the Vote, or any of the other incredible organizations working to drive up voter turnout — are really contributing to students turning out to the polls and finding their voices.”
In addition to elections in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth, Democratic candidates Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, while Democrat Jay Jones was elected Virginia’s attorney general. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani also won his bid for mayor of New York.
