Did Somerset County Democrats get enough write-ins to make the ballot? They may be close
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It's possible that Somerset County's Republican state representatives will have a Democratic opponent in the November election.
According to unofficial Somerset County election results with all precincts reporting, 385 write-in votes were cast for the 69th Legislative District seat held by state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar and 433 for the 32nd Senatorial District held by state Sen. Pat Stefano. These numbers alone are close to those needed for the challengers to make it onto the November ballot.
More:Somerset County 2022 Primary Results
In the 32nd District's other counties, 1,107 write-ins were cast in Fayette, according to unofficial election results. Westmoreland County had 33 write-in votes.
Redistricting:You may have a new state rep in Somerset County — here's what to know about redistricting.
To earn the nomination, a candidate would have had to secure 300 write-in votes for the 69th Legislative District and 500 for the 32nd Senatorial District.
It's uncertain who the write-in votes are for, but Kimberly Felan had been vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Metzgar and Sydney Hovis for the Democratic nomination to challenge Stefano.
When told what the unofficial write-in numbers were, Somerset County Democratic party Chairwoman Shelley Glessner said "that's pretty great," noting that the write-in candidates only started campaigning recently.
Glessner added that, if the numbers are correct, she's confident the Democrats will have a presence on the November ballot.
"I would say I'm pretty confident there will be (a Democrat) for the 32nd," she said. "For the 69th ... I'm not so sure."
Both Metzgar and Stefano easily secured the Republican nod in Tuesday's primary, as they were unopposed.
Tina Pritts, Somerset County's elections director, said the county's numbers include mail-in ballots received. The election results will still have to be certified by the county's computation board.
"It went pretty smooth," Pritts said of Tuesday's primary.
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(Editor's note: An earlier version of this story did not include updated write-in totals.)
Follow Eric Kieta on Twitter at @EricKietaDA.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Democrats might make ballot after Somerset County PA primary
