WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump went before voters Tuesday in Pennsylvania's presidential primary, a prelude to November's general election, as the nation once again enters the race for the White House. expected to play an important role. . Further down the ballot, voters will also choose candidates in competitive primaries for Congress, the state Legislature, and his three statewide offices.
On March 12, Biden confirmed his Democratic nomination and Trump confirmed his Republican nomination, but both face serious opposition in primary voting. Nevertheless, both candidates have been campaigning in Pennsylvania in recent days, focusing more on the November election and each other than on Tuesday's vote.
Biden just wrapped up a three-day campaign that began in his hometown of Scranton on Tuesday and ended Thursday with an event with members of the Kennedy family in Philadelphia. A few days earlier, President Trump held a rally in Lehigh County, his third visit to the state this year.
Pennsylvania, which has 19 electors, was one of three key battleground states, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, that narrowly voted for Trump in 2016, after voting for Democratic presidential candidates for about 30 years. won. Four years later, Biden won all three states by winning Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes out of more than 6.9 million cast, but these states remain important prizes in this November's election. It has become.
Democrats in the Keystone State will also decide competitive elections for state attorney general, treasurer and auditor general. Five candidates are running for attorney general, a post previously held by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. They are Philadelphia attorney Kia Bradford Gray, former auditor general and state representative Eugene DePasquale, former prosecutor and Bucks County attorney Joe Kern, and Philadelphia state representative Jared. Solomon, and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.
The Republican primary for attorney general will be contested Sunday between York County District Attorney Dave and state Rep. Craig Williams.
In the race for control of the closely divided Legislature, first-time Democratic Rep. Summer Lee faces a primary challenge from Allegheny County Edgewood Borough Councilwoman Babini Patel in the 12th District. . The two sides have been sparring over their positions in the Israel-Hamas war. Mr. Lee accused Israel of “war crimes” in Gaza and was an early supporter of the ceasefire. She also supported a campaign to vote “irresponsible” in the Democratic presidential primary to send a pro-war message to Biden.
In the 10th Congressional District, six Democrats are vying for the nomination to face Republican Congressman Scott Perry, who played an active role in ensuring that President Trump lost to Biden in the 2020 election. There is. A federal court recently ordered Perry to turn over hundreds of text messages and emails to FBI agents investigating the effort. His mobile phone was seized as part of the investigation in 2022.
In the 1st Congressional District, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick faces a primary challenge from anti-abortion activist Mark Hauck. In the 7th District, three Republicans are vying to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wilde in the fall.
Pennsylvania is also a stronghold of the Senate race, with Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Sen. David McCormick both running unopposed in Tuesday's primary.
Let's see what happens on Tuesday.
primary day
Pennsylvania's presidential and state primaries will be held on Tuesday. Voting ends at 8pm ET.
Voting details
The Associated Press will cover the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, as well as 48 additional post-election races. Biden and Dean Phillips appear on the Democratic presidential ballot, while Trump and Nikki Haley appear on the Republican presidential ballot. Voters in both primaries will also have the option to fill in a candidate. The Associated Press will also cover contentious primaries for attorney general, comptroller and treasurer, U.S. House of Representatives, state Senate and state House of Representatives.
who can vote
Pennsylvania has a closed primary system, meaning only registered voters with a political party can participate in that party's primary. Democrats cannot vote in Republican primaries and vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in any primary election.
Representative assignment rules
Pennsylvania's 159 Democratic delegates will be allocated according to standard national party rules. The 35 at-large delegates are allocated proportionally to the statewide vote, as are the 19 her PLEO delegates, or “party leaders and elected officials.” A total of 105 delegates are at stake in the state's 17 congressional districts, which will be allocated proportionately to each district's voting results. To qualify for a statewide delegate, a candidate must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote, and to qualify for a delegate in a congressional district, a candidate must receive at least 15% of the votes in that district. You need to get more than 15% of her.
Pennsylvania has 67 Republican delegates. The winner of the statewide vote will receive all 16 delegates. Each of the state's 17 congressional districts receives three additional delegates, for a total of 51 district-level delegates, but they are not awarded to candidates based on primary votes. Instead, people running for convention delegates are listed on the ballot and elected directly by voters. They are elected as unbound delegates. In other words, there is no obligation to vote for a particular candidate at the party convention. The Associated Press does not report vote totals for delegate candidates.
decision memo
Biden and Trump are the favorites in the presidential primary, as neither candidate faces a credible challenge. Initial indications that the state is winning at a level consistent with the overwhelming margins seen in most other contests held this year may be enough to determine a statewide winner.
Other key jurisdictions to watch in the statewide primary are vote-rich Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Lancaster and Chester counties.
The Associated Press does not make predictions and declares a winner only if it determines there is no scenario in which a successor candidate closes the gap. Even if a race is not called, The Associated Press will continue to report on newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. At that time, The Associated Press will clarify that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
In Pennsylvania, races with a difference of 0.5 percentage points or less are subject to automatic recounts. The Associated Press may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if the lead is determined to be too large to change the result through a recount or legal challenge.
What will turnout and advance voting look like?
As of April 15, there were more than 8.7 million registered voters in Pennsylvania, about 45% of whom were Democrats and about 40% who were Republicans.
In the 2022 midterm primaries, turnout for both the Democratic and Republican primaries was about 15% of registered voters. About 42% of the votes in that year's Democratic primary were cast by Election Day, compared to about 11% in the Republican primary.
As of Thursday, a total of 413,952 votes had been cast by Election Day, about 73% of them Democrats and about 26% Republicans.
How long does it usually take to count votes?
For the 2022 midterm primary elections, The Associated Press first reported results at 8:04 p.m. ET, or four minutes after polls closed. Election night counting ended at 2:45 a.m. ET, with about 91% of the total votes counted.
Have you arrived yet?
As of Tuesday, there are 83 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 118 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and 196 days until the November general election.
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Follow AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
