The results from Tuesday’s midterms have not all arrived yet, but Northwestern Pennsylvania saw a change in some representatives at the state and national level.

​

From the national level, the United States saw a shift in power as Democrats took hold of power in the House of Representatives, while Republicans were able to maintain their power in the Senate.

​

PA Governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, was up for reelection after his first four years as Governor, and beat Republican Scott Wagner. According to the York Daily Record, Wolf won with 58 percent of the vote, Wagner received 41 percent, and the two other candidates, one of the Libertarian Party and one from the Green Party, each earned one percent of the vote.

​

The Lieutenant Governor runs on the same ballot as the governor, and John Fetterman, current mayor of Braddock, PA, has been elected as Lieutenant Governor.

​

“It’s so good to be back. We have a new lieutenant governor-elect. We are going to be working together to make Pennsylvania better,” said Wolf in a recent video released on his Twitter page. “I’m really excited about what we can achieve. Everything from education reform, criminal justice reform, to access to the polls. We have a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to working with my new partner here.”

​

In the first race since the PA district was redone due to gerrymandering, PA’s 16th Congressional District was the home of a highly contested race between Republican incumbent Mike Kelly and Democratic challenger Ron DiNicola. As the votes rolled in, it looked as if DiNicola had the lead,  but votes from Lawrence and Butler counties pushed Kelly forward to a narrow lead, eventually securing his victory. During the early evening, while it appeared DiNicola would be taking the victory, Tim Kuzma, who helped in the Mike Kelly campaign, discussed the voting outcomes at the campaign headquarters, saying, “In the past it’s been a Republican County, but obviously there are some trends stabilizing...and there’s nothing we can do”.According to the Associated Press, Kelly received 51.5 percent of the vote, DiNicola got 47.7 percent, and Bill Beeman, on the Libertarian ticket, had 1.1 percent.

​

This is Kelly’s fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and CBS Pittsburgh reported that his main priority is to continue to help with economic growth in the region and across the country. Since the Democrats took the House, Kelly will now be in the minority party.

​

Democrat Bob Merski and Republican Tim Kuzma fought over the PA House of Representatives seat left by the late Flo Fabrizio, who died at the end of July. Merski, an Erie City Council member, defeated Kuzma with 65 percent of the vote, according to GoErie.com.

​

This election proved less competitive; Curt Sonney a Republican from the 4th district ran uncontested for the House of Representatives, and was placed back into power after the midterm. Brad Roae also ran uncontested for the Republican seat in the House of Representatives for the  6th district, he will be welcomed back to Washington with his 4,447 votes according to Ballotpedia.

​

These changes won’t be the only to affect Pennsylvania, as the state sent a record breaking number of women to the U.S. House of Representatives. Four women won open seats, all of which were Democratic seats, surpassing the past record of two women. Three of the four Democratic women to win seats won in previously Republican strongholds. The women representing PA are Madeleine Dean of the 4th district, Mary Scanlon of the 5th district, Chrissy Houlahan of the 6th district and Susan Wild of the 7th district.

​

Record numbers of voters turned out to cast their votes in Erie alone, “53.23% of registered voters” turnout out with many ballot judges noting that, “many more young and first-time voters showed out.” noted Erie News Nows’ LiAnna Schwerer.  The young voters coming to bat in the election boxes isn’t an isolated occurrence . According to a tweet put out by Next Gen Ameria Penn State Main "quadrupled turnout compared to 2014 in its main precinct” which is located in the 7th Congressional District.

Erie News Now also reported the average voter turnout during midterms in 20%. This midterm  has proven to have the largest turnout since 1994.