Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Once again Bucks County proved to be a microcosm of the national electorate. The higher the contest was on the ballot earlier this month, the better the Democratic Party performed. Meanwhile, the GOP thrived in races lower down on the ballot.
Although the counting still hasn’t officially ended, we have more than enough information to take an overview of how Bucks County voted on November 3 and what it portends for the future.
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National and Statewide
Former Vice President Joe Biden won Bucks County, extending the Democrat’s win streak to eight straight presidential elections. His share of the vote, 51.52 percent, is the second-highest of that run behind only Barack Obama’s 53.7 percent total in 2008. On top of that, President Donald Trump saw his share of the vote drop from 47.74 percent four years ago to 47.17 percent.
Running up the margins in the Philadelphia collar counties was a central component of Biden’s strategy to win the key swing state of Pennsylvania. As a result, the campaign made several stops in Bucks County, including a late October event in Bristol Township featuring the former vice president. All that hard work paid off as Biden won the most votes of any statewide candidate in the county, another feat not accomplished since Obama’s 2008 victory.
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Just behind the president-elect was Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who secured 51.06 percent over the 46.32 percent pulled in by his challenger Heather Heidelbaugh. This performance is a slight improvement from the 50.77 percent Shapiro received during his first run in 2016. That should be heartening to the attorney general who is widely expected to seek the governor’s office in 2022, and will need a strong showing in Bucks County to succeed.
That’s pretty much the extent of highlights for the Democratic Party. Treasurer Joe Torsella narrowly bested his challenger Stacy Garrity in the county, 49.06 percent to 47.97 percent, but his disappointing performance in the county contributed to his statewide defeat.
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The one Democratic row officer to lose Bucks County was auditor general nominee Nina Ahmad. She finished behind eventual victor Republican Timothy DeFoor 49.72 percent to 46.69 percent.
Congress and the Legislature
As mentioned, November 3 was a banner day for the GOP in the down-ballot legislative races.
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The most prominent example was Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who scored the biggest victory of his career in large part thanks to the 57.23 percent share of the vote he garnered in Bucks County. His Democratic opponent Christina Finello was left with just 42.54 percent, as thousands cast a split Biden-Fitzpatrick ticket.
It was the state legislative results, however, that really stung the Democrats. The party had hopes of potentially flipping the state House ahead of the all-important redistricting period. Bucks County was a major facet of this plan, with four promising Republican targets: Todd Polinchock, Meghan Schroeder, Wendi Thomas, and K.C. Tomlinson. Yet all four Republican state representatives won re-election, along with State Rep. Frank Farry. To make matters worse for the Democrats, the one incumbent who did lose was one of their own, Wendy Ullman, a state representative for Central Bucks County.
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I can’t wait to get the final results and dig deeper into the numbers. I’ll particularly be looking at the First Congressional District contest, and whether Fitzpatrick can continue to rely on split-ticket voters or if Bucks County’s leftward drift at the presidential level is a sign of difficulties to come.
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