After a long day of voting, the polls have officially closed, and the results are in. Pennsylvania, along with many other states, experienced a democratic sweep.
In this November’s election, people voted for these categories: Supreme Court Retention, Partisan Judicial Elections, Pittsburgh Mayor, Pittsburgh City Council, Allegheny County Council, and Allegheny Sheriff.
Concerning the Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania state supreme court remains a 5-2 democratic majority, with all three democratic justices —Christine Donohue, David Wecht, and Kevin Dougherty — retaining their roles. All three Supreme Court judges won their counterparts by an average of 60-40. Among other judicial members, both the Commonwealth Court’s Michael Wojcik and the Superior Court’s Alice Dubow retained their seats and won by a similar 60-40 margin.
New in the judicial elections, Democratic Judges Stella Tsai and Brandon Neuman filled the open seats in PA’s Commonwealth and Superior Courts, with Tsai winning 56% of the vote and Neuman winning 55.6%. Both in their campaigns reassured people of what they were truly fighting for: Tsai advocated for voting rights, immigrant rights, and civil rights, as well as reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.
It is also worth noting that Tsai seems incredibly qualified for the role, having earned 9 awards, including the Sandra Day O’Connor Award, the Civil Rights Advocacy Award, and the Most Powerful and Influential Women Award. As for Neuman, he has held many positions, including the Washington County Court of Common Pleas and the Civil and Veterans’ Specialty Court, and was elected to four terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, making him also qualified by his wide breadth of experience.
In other categories, such as the mayoral vote, candidate Corey O’Connor won by a landslide, with 87.5% voting for him. After receiving the news of his victory, he spoke to the citizens of Pittsburgh, saying, “This is our moment, Pittsburgh. We must seize this moment. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and to deliver on the promise of progress. … I am humbled by your faith in me to bring accountable leadership.” O’Connor is now following the footsteps of his late father, Bob O’Connor, who was mayor in 2006 before passing away from cancer. Corey O’Connor will now have the attempt to fulfill his goals of prioritizing improving public safety in Pittsburgh.
Moving on to the city council, in the Pittsburgh area, Kim Salientro, Anthony Coghill, and Daniel Lavelle won their election, coming in as all democrats again. For District 8, the uncontested candidate is Erika Strassburger. All candidates won by landslide margins against their opponents, with 71% the lowest winning margin. In the Allegheny area, similar results were reported, except that Alex Rose, an Independent, won the At-Large (special election) district. Everyone else: Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, Lissa Geiger Shulman, Patrick Catena, Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Aaron Adams, Bobby Palmosina, and Jordan Botta all defeated their Republican opponents in the race and won.
Finally, Allegheny Sheriff Kevin Kraus returns for his second term. Kraus ran against challenger Brian Weismantle, who received only 34.4% of the votes. Before the election, Sheriff Kraus said, “I’m running this campaign on the platform of my record, experience, my integrity, and my leadership.”
As the election is now over, it is very clear that Pennsylvania is majority blue. However, it has often been a “swing state” and is often recognized as a diverse political area. While this election obviously demonstrates a strong democratic leaning, the voting ratio speaks for itself, showing that there is still a mix.
For example, in the PA’s neighboring “safe states” like New York and Maryland, they are strongly democratic and often do not have close margins. On the other side, Ohio, which used to be somewhat of a swing state, is majority Republican.
In the larger scope of things, Pennsylvania, along with other swing states, was swept with the democratic wave–similar results showing in Arizona, Iowa, and Wisconsin. This can say a lot about the state of the US and how recent Presidential decisions have impacted the general election.
President of the RMU Democrats, Alexander Marsh, had this passionate statement to share concerning the 2025 Blue Wave:
“Above all, this election should be a signal to party leadership: the time has come to embrace the populist wing. Socialists like Zohran Mamdani and Omar Fateh have carried our party to a massive blue wave, even as dissatisfaction with both national parties continues to grow,” he says. He went on to reflect on the 2024 election, which has obviously impacted the voters today.
“Had Harris embraced this new vision for America back in 2024, America would be in a much different, much brighter place. Our party must replace neoliberalism with working-class economics, capitulation with progressivism, and do-nothing DINOs with Happy Warriors.”
Let this election be a lesson to the Republicans as well: your 1-point “national mandate” has run its course. Are you happy with what you’ve accomplished in the last 8 months? Because the rest of us are not. We’ll see you in 2026.”
As a wave of change approaches the US, every vote and voice matters to the values of the citizens of the United States. Though it has been quite eventful as of late, each election we look forward to a new age and to implementing change — even if it’s what we fear most.
