Greene voters follow state to give Wolf Democratic not in governor race
WAYNESBURG – A York businessman garnered support from Greene County and that of the majority of voters across the state on Tuesday, capturing the Democratic nod over his three challengers in his bid for governor.
According to unofficial results, Tom Wolf clinched the party nomination over U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, current state Treasurer Rob McCord and former state environmental Secretary Katie McGinty.
In Greene County, with 100 percent of the votes counted, Wolf received 1,960 votes with McCord trailing a distant second with 822 votes. McGinty tallied 357 votes, with Schwartz securing 276 votes, according to unofficial results.
Wolf also bested his challengers across the state, having garnered 328,625 votes at press time, with Schwartz securing 100,863 votes, McCord, 91,663 votes and McGinty garnering 42,809 votes, in unofficial results with about 60 percent of the vote counted at press time.
Wolf announced his candidacy in April 2013 and launched a solid advertising campaign to introduce himself to the potential Democratic electorate. Despite his initial lack of name recognition, Wolf led in subsequent opinion polls.
According to a recent Franklin and Marshall College Poll, Wolf outpaced all of his challengers by a 2-1 margin of those planning to cast ballots on Tuesday.
The poll additionally revealed that voters were seeking a candidate that was focused on education and the economy.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, meanwhile, state Sen. Mike Stack of Philadelphia received the Democratic nod, with former U.S. Rep Mark Critz of Johnstown, Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, state Rep. Brandon P. Neuman of Washington County and Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski falling short in their bids to face the GOP nominee.
In Greene County, Neuman outpaced the other four candidates, garnering 1,380 votes, with Critz, Stack, Smith and Koplinski garnering 1,027, 621, 207 and 52 votes, respectively, with all of the vote counted in the unofficial results.
Across the state, Stack garnered 271,107 votes, with Critz receiving 98,310 votes with about 60 percent of the vote being counted by press time. Smith received 76,975 votes, with Neuman and Koplinski garnering 63,191 and 60,261 votes, respectively, in unofficial results.
Incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley ran unopposed in their respective bids for the GOP nomination in the Tuesday primary.
In Greene County, Corbett received 891 votes, with Cawley garnering 884 votes, with all precincts reporting results.
Across the state, Corbett received 217,492 votes and Cawley garnered 256,315 votes, according to unofficial results with about 60 percent of the votes counted at press time.
Early on, it appeared Corbett would be challenged for the state’s top post by Bob Guzzardi, a Montgomery County businessman.
However, just prior to the primary election, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and ordered Guzzardi’s name be removed from the ballot because he failed to file his financial interest statement with the State Ethics Commission by the deadline.
Corbett and Wolf, along with Cawley and Stack, will square off again in the November general election.
Regarding the primary election in Greene County, which offered no locally contested races, low numbers of voters were reported at the county’s 44 voting precincts.
According to updated unofficial results, a total of 4,881 of Greene County’s 20,149 eligible registered voters – or 24.42 percent – cast their ballots on Tuesday, including 3,640 Democratic voters and 1,240 Republican voters. Voters registered with other parties were not allowed to vote Tuesday, because the primary is a party election.
These total numbers include absentee ballots, which were added to the totals Thursday.
Election office workers in Greene County said no major problems were reported by voters using the county’s touch screen iVotronic voting system at the polling places.
The county has been using the iVotronic system since the 2006 primary election. The iVotronic machines are similar to the UniLect electronic system that the county had used since 1998 before they were decertified in 2005 by the Pa. Department of State. The first of the county’s 44 precincts to report Tuesday was Waynesburg Borough 2, and the last precinct to report was Monongahela 2. Tina Kiger, Greene County elections director, commended the efficiency of the elections office and the district boards, who she said were well-prepared for the election.
Kiger said the election results were unofficial and said the canvass board is convening on Friday at 9 a.m. in the elections office, which is the first step towar d officially certifying the results of the primary.