Pennsylvanians cast first ballots under redistricted maps

The first electoral aftershocks from legislative redistricting earlier this year will be felt Tuesday, when Pennsylvania voters pick primary candidates for Congress, 203 state House seats and 25 Senate districts.

Many voters will not notice a thing — they will be at a familiar polling place and cast votes for an incumbent they recognize. But others will be in new districts, under the revised set of maps that helped prod some lawmakers into retirement.

Below the marquee races for governor and U.S. Senate, there are primary contests for 17 congressional districts. The state’s delegation to the U.S. House had been 18 — nine Democrats and nine Republicans — before a seat was lost because of 2020 Census numbers.

There also is a primary for lieutenant governor, an open position because Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running for Senate.

On the Democratic side, two of the three candidates are state representatives — Brian Sims from Philadelphia and Austin Davis of Allegheny County.

There are also state House members on the more crowded Republican ballot for lieutenant governor — Reps. Carrie Lewis DelRosso of Allegheny County and Russ Diamond of Lebanon and former Reps. Jeff Coleman and Rick Saccone.

The GOP field also includes Teddy Daniels, who last week posted a Facebook video with his wife and child, a few days after a judge dismissed a protective order Daniels’ wife had sought against him.

In the state House, three races pit incumbents against each other in districts where the primary winner will be likely to take the oath of office in January.

Northwest of Harrisburg, Rep. Perry Stambaugh faces a GOP primary against Rep. Johnathan Hershey. Southwest of Allentown, Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and Gary Day have been slugging it out. And in Philadelphia, Democratic Reps. Isabella Fitzgerald and Chris Rabb are facing off.

Despite requests from county elections workers, the Legislature and governor were unable to reach an agreement to allow the counting of mail-in and absentee ballots to start earlier. The Department of State is warning that it’s likely the vote counting will extend past Tuesday night.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those who obtained mail-in ballots should return them in person to their county’s elections office, or if their county has them, to another designated spot or drop box.