Provisional ballots could determine Lt. Gov contest

The race for Lieutenant Governor in Pennsylvania is still too close to call. The three candidates in the Democratic contest will have to wait until Thurs, May 27, to see if they’ve clinched their party’s nomination or if it will come down to an automatic recount.

The race for Lieutenant Governor in Pennsylvania is still too close to call.  The three candidates in the Democratic contest will have to wait until Thurs, May 27, to see if they’ve clinched their party’s nomination or if it will come down to an automatic recount.

Jonathan Saidel was considered the front runner in the three-way Democratic primary with the most campaign cash and the majority of state party support. But State Representative Scott Conklin quickly overtook the former city controller and ended the night leading the field by a  margin of less than one-percent.

Pennsylvania Commissioner of Elections Chet Harhut says all results on the state website are unofficial and there are still a number of outstanding provisional ballots that need to be counted, “The counties will do their official count on Friday and then by Tuesday they must submit to us all their results for statewide offices and at that point we’ll evaluate whether or not it triggers our automatic statewide recount provision which we will have to declare by thursday of next week.”

The former City Controller, along with State Representative Conklin, joined retired Court Judge Doris Ribner-Smith in the Democratic contest.

The winner will join the Democratic ticket with gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato against Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett and Lieutenant Governor candidate Jim Cawley.