Westmoreland politicos put primary in the past, look ahead to November

A day after only 30% of Westmoreland County’s voters cast ballots in a sleepy primary with few contested races, local political leaders said Wednesday they are setting their sights on what they expect to be a rugged general election campaign.

Even with just a handful of down-ballot races on the card this fall, including at least two challenges to incumbent Republican state House members, the expectation is there will be an elevated level of political engagement this fall.

“I think April 24 is the best day of the year because we now know who the candidates are. But it’s the issues that matter, voter rights, women’s rights, union rights, they are all on the ballot. Now, we can begin the work because the family fight is over,” said Westmoreland County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Michelle McFall.

Political leaders said Tuesday’s results carry little meaning for November as turnout languished. More than 20,000 fewer ballots were cast this spring when compared with turnout for the 2020 Presidential primary in Westmoreland County, according election bureau data.

The Westmoreland County Election Bureau reported primary turnout was nearly 33% for Democrats and just more than 28.5% for Republicans. That included early voting through mail-in ballots and votes cast at polling places on Election Day.

Democrats saw two contested primaries for both Westmoreland congressional seats in which first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and retired Army veteran Chris Dziados secured nominations.

Lee, of Swissvale, will face Republican James Hayes in November for the Pittsburgh-based seat that crosses into western Westmoreland County. Dziados, of South Strabane in Washington County, defeated Ken Bach, a small business owner in Smithton, for the right to challenge four-term Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Peters.

Uncontested primaries for state House and Senate seats drove down turnout.

Democrats and Republicans in Westmoreland, where Republicans hold a substantial advantage in registered voters and recent ballot-box successes, enter the general election season with clear objectives in the high-profile statewide races at the top of the ticket.

Republicans will seek to use their strength in numbers to provide an electoral cushion in the presidential and senatorial races. Democrats will follow their same game plan used in 2020 and the 2022 midterm election and attempt to narrow the Republicans local advantage.

That won’t be the case this fall, according to Westmoreland County Republican Committee Chairman Bill Bretz, who said the the low turnout numbers are not predictive of November results.

“Folks will come out for the presidential and Senate races. That’s what people will care about. They’ll come out for that,” Bretz said.

There will be down-ballot races this fall. Democrat Cherri Rogers will seek to oust two-term Republican Eric Davanzo for the state House seat based in West Newton that includes Monessen, East Huntingdon, South Huntingdon and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, first-term incumbent Republican Leslie Rossi faces a challenge from Democrat Margie Zelenak of Mt. Pleasant for the 59th District seat based in Latrobe and includes Ligonier, Unity and parts of Derry townships.

“We’ll be knocking on doors and chasing down mail-in ballots. We narrowed the margin in 2020 and again in 2023. We’ll do it again in 2024,” McFall said.

Bretz suggested Republicans already are engaged in the race ahead.

“The national issues are kitchen table issues, immigration, inflation and crime. Those are the big issues that will get Republicans out to vote. We don’t need to rely on local races to do that,” Bretz said.