The Latest: Wagner gets GOP nod to challenge Gov. Wolf
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on the Pennsylvania primary election (all times local):
10:05 p.m.
Pennsylvania state senator and waste-hauling millionaire Scott Wagner is the winner of the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Wagner’s victory in Tuesday’s three-way primary election caps a personal spending spree of more than $10 million that helped make him the front-runner and the GOP’s endorsed candidate.
Wagner defeated first-time candidates Paul Mango and Laura Ellsworth, surviving weeks of Mango’s sharp-elbowed attack ads that painted Wagner as sleazy and greedy.
Wagner fashions himself as a garbage man coming to clean up a state government that chokes the economy with regulations and taxes. He has compiled one of the Senate’s most conservative voting records.
Wolf leads a unified Democratic Party into the fall. Wagner and Wolf live in York County.
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9:40 p.m.
A four-term congressman who is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta had paid little attention to his Republican rival, state Rep. Jim Christiana, during the primary campaign. Instead, he focused his attacks on the candidate he is looking to unseat in the fall, two-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
Barletta is a former small-city mayor who first got national notice for attempting to pass local laws to combat illegal immigration.
Barletta endorsed Trump for president. Trump asked Barletta to run for Senate and is expected to campaign for him.
Casey is the son of a former Pennsylvania governor and is among 10 Democratic senators seeking re-election in states won by Trump.
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9:20 p.m.
Polls are staying open late in one tiny borough in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Pocono Record reports a storm-related gas leak temporarily forced the polls to close in Delaware Water Gap Borough, but they have now reopened. Voters will be able to cast ballots in Pennsylvania’s primary until 10:30 p.m.
The borough has fewer than 1,000 residents.
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9:10 p.m.
Three incumbent House Democrats from Pennsylvania have turned back primary challenges.
Dwight Evans, in his first full term, will face Republican Bryan Leib in the November general election. Brendan Boyle will face Republican David Torres. Evans and Boyle represent heavily Democratic districts in Philadelphia.
A third Democratic incumbent, 12-term Rep. Mike Doyle, has beaten a primary challenger in a heavily Democratic district in the Pittsburgh area. Doyle is uncontested in November.
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8 p.m.
The polls are closed in Pennsylvania.
Republican voters picked candidates Tuesday to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in the fall. Further down the ballot were races for lieutenant governor, U.S. House and state Legislature.
Three Republicans ran in the gubernatorial primary: political newcomers Paul Mango and Laura Ellsworth, and state Sen. Scott Wagner, the party’s endorsed candidate. Wolf ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. He’s seeking a second term.
Casey also ran unopposed. He’s seeking a third term.
A court-ordered recast of the state’s congressional districts helped spur unusual interest among political candidates. Pennsylvania hosted 21 contested primary races for the state’s 18 U.S. House seats, the most since 1984.
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5:25 p.m.
Storm-related power outages are delaying the counting of some paper ballots in Pennsylvania.
Severe thunderstorms swept across the state on Tuesday afternoon.
The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reports ballot scanners in the towns of Clarks Green, Clarks Summit and Archbald are down.
Officials say voting is continuing uninterrupted. Completed ballots are being put in storage until the power comes back on.
A few polling places outside Harrisburg also lost power. County spokeswoman Rachel Bryson tells Pennlive.com that voting machines are running on battery power until crews set up generators.
Primary voters are casting ballots for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state Legislature.
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12:50 p.m.
A Homeland Security official has met with Pennsylvania officials to discuss election security as voters choose Republican challengers to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
Also on tap Tuesday are contested primaries for lieutenant governor and a slew of crowded U.S. House races following Pennsylvania’s court-ordered redrawing of congressional district boundaries.
Chris Krebs, who heads the federal cyber and infrastructure protection unit, met with acting Pennsylvania Secretary of State Robert Torres Tuesday morning.
Pennsylvania was one of the 21 states targeted by the Russians ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
He says he wants to reinforce to the voters in Pennsylvania that “at all levels of government, we take this seriously.”
He says there is no direct threat to voting systems.
A state official says the biggest threat this election day is weather, and urges voters to get out before rain and wind sweep across the state.
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11: 20 a.m.
A former health care systems consultant in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested Republican primary for governor says he’s feeling “very good” and is getting ready for what he predicts will be a victory party.
Paul Mango voted Tuesday morning at Pine Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles north of Pittsburgh.
He says the theme of his campaign is to restore the dream of America to the children of Pennsylvania. He says he’s seen people are hurting around the state and he wants to help Pennsylvanians realize their potential.
He says Pennsylvania wants someone to fight for them, and he will.
Other Republicans hoping to challenge ballot Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in the November election are Scott Wagner, state senator from York County; and Laura Ellsworth, a commercial litigation attorney and former chairwoman of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
Polls will close at 8 p.m.
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10:40 a.m.
Residents in a suburban Philadelphia area are casting their ballots in a newly reshaped district.
Haverford and Havertown are solidly Democratic areas that used to be in a majority Republican congressional district. Now it’s majorly Democratic.
The new map is said to more evenly distribute Democratic and GOP voters in each district.
Julie Nelson was at Manoa Presbyterian Church in Havertown Tuesday and says she voted for Democrat Greg Vitali for U.S. House District 5.
Fifty-five-year-old Nelson says the political shift with redistricting was needed, adding “it’s about time.”
Eileen McCormick is a Republican from Havertown. She says she voted for Republican Pearl Kim for Congress. She says “that was a wasted vote” because it will be going Democratic.
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10:15 a.m.
A state senator from York County in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested Republican primary for governor says he’s “fairly confident” he’ll prevail.
Scott Wagner spoke after casting his ballot Tuesday morning in York. He says it’s been a long 17 months and he’ll be happy when the polls close.
He says he’s talked to thousands of people and what he hears is they all want change. He says “lip service days are over.”
Other Republicans hoping to challenge ballot Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in the November election are Paul Mango, a former health care systems consultant; and Laura Ellsworth, a commercial litigation attorney and former chairwoman of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
Polls will close at 8 p.m.
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7 a.m.
Polls have opened in Pennsylvania as voters choose Republican challengers to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
Also on tap Tuesday are contested primaries for lieutenant governor and a slew of crowded U.S. House races following Pennsylvania’s court-ordered redrawing of congressional district boundaries.
If he’s beaten, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack would become the first officeholder to lose re-election since Pennsylvania allowed lieutenant governors to run for a second term in the 1970s.
Polls will close at 8 p.m.
Spending in the hotly contested gubernatorial primary has passed $20 million. The sleepier Republican contest for U.S. Senate could play a role come November in deciding whether Republicans maintain U.S. Senate control.
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12:05 a.m.
Pennsylvania voters have a lot of races to settle in the primary election, including picking Republican challengers to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
Spending in the hotly contested gubernatorial primary has passed $20 million and is Tuesday’s marquee race. The sleepier Republican contest for U.S. Senate could play a role come November in deciding whether Republicans maintain U.S. Senate control.
Also on tap are contested primaries for lieutenant governor and a slew of crowded U.S. House races following Pennsylvania’s court-ordered redrawing of congressional district boundaries.
If he’s beaten, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack would become the first officeholder to lose re-election since Pennsylvania allowed lieutenant governors to run for a second term in the 1970s.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.