Into the election result weeds

The Pennsylvania election last Tuesday was an “off-year election.”  That means no members of congress or state legislative candidates were on the ballot.  We did have a statewide election for a Commonwealth Court Judge and a Superior Court judge and five “retention elections” for sitting justices at the state level.  

We also voted for school board members and borough and township officials and someCounty officials like the treasurer.

Off-year elections generally have a low turnout.  Only the 3rd Ward in Jim Thorpe had a turnout over 50%; it clocked in at 50.76%.  That is a bit misleading, however.  A group of volunteers had sent letters with mail-in ballot requests to Democrats in assisted living homes and housing for the aged.  We mailed to over 300 people, and approximately 30 were returned by the Post Office.  They would be counted as non-voters in the turnout figures.

I would also note is that Carbon County Democrats did much better than in the recent past.  The Democratic Party urged voters to retain the judges; the Republicans ran a well-funded campaign urging a no vote.  Last year Kamala Harris received a Carbon vote in the mid-thirties.  The vote to retain the judges was over 48%.  That was more than a 10% improvement.