WJPA News

Republican candidates for office in Washington County bucked the national trend by electing Republican candidates to all contested races. In the 46th Senate district, Senator Camera Bartolotta held off independent candidate Jodi Borello 56% to 44%. In House races, in the 48th district Tim O’Neal held off Rebecca MacTaggart 57%-43%. In the 50th district Ben Humble beat Lois Bower-Bjornson 65%-35%, in the 15th district it was Josh Kail over Sydney Speicher 62%-38%. In the remaining races involving Washington County, In the 39th district, Andrew Kuzma beat Dylan Altemara 53.5%-46.5%, in the 40th district, Natalie Mihalek held on to defeat Jon Lloyd 51.5%-48.5% and finally in the 46th district Jason Ortitay beat Mike Crossey 53%-47%. Results are unofficial until certified by the counties where the elections were held.

Voters in Hanover Township voted against adding two supervisors to their board of supervisors. In a ballot referendum question, residents were asked if they would want to add two supervisors to the township board of supervisors to bring the total number of supervisors to five. The measure to add supervisors failed with 52% of residents wishing to retain the current set up. Those residents in favor of expansion only had 48% of the vote. The final vote total was 482 no and 443 yes.

United States Representative for the Pennsylvania 14th Congressional District Guy Reschenthaler will retain his seat in Washington D.C. The Associated Press called the election in favor of Reschenthaler. As of 11:50 pm on Election Day, Reschenthaler led challenger Alan Bradstock 59%-41%. Reschenthaler will be seated for his fifth term in January of 2027.

Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander tells WJPA News an incident at the Chartiers-3 Precinct during Tuesday’s election is under investigation but could not offer any other details at this time.  Ostrander says another hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Tracy McDonald is being planned.  WJPA News reached out to Judge McDonald’s office and we were told additional information on that hearing may be released this afternoon.  According to reports,  twenty-three people were affected by signature issues between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.  at Miraculous Medal Church in Meadowlands.   According to several officials, a Judge of Elections was removed and a hearing was held before Judge McDonald.  That hearing resulted in an order to keep the precinct open for two additional hours until 10 p.m.  Attempts were made to reach those voters and have them return to the church to cast a provisional ballot.

Within minutes of polls closing at 8 p.m., both the Associated Press and NBC declared Josh Shapiro the winner in Pennsvlvania’s Governors race, defeating Republican state treasurer Stacy Garrity.  Not even 4% of the votes had been counted when the race was called. In remarks at his watch party, Shapiro focused on “getting stuff done.” “Pennsylvania, with your vision and your votes, you declared that we are ready to keep getting stuff done and moving this Commonwealth forward. Tonight, you declared that we are ready to keep delivering results — and that we reject the chaos, cruelty, and corruption in Washington, D.C.,” Shapiro said. “Over the last four years, we’ve gotten a lot done — growing our economy, making our communities safer, investing in our kids’ education, and protecting our freedoms and democracy. I could not be more humbled and grateful for the opportunity to keep serving as your Governor — and I am ready to keep fighting and delivering for you every single day. Thank you, Pennsylvania.” Garrity, in her concession speech, highlighted values that she believes matters for leaders, no matter the results of the outcome of the election. “Leadership matters, accountability matters and putting Pennsylvania families first matters. Tonight’s results, they don’t change that. They only make our responsibility to hold our leaders to this standard more important. Tonight, I wish the governor and his team my sincere best, as we all should, because his success is our success.”

Democrats have won control of Congress in a widespread repudiation of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Democrats have flipped at least seven Senate seats in ruby-red states and battlegrounds alike: Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina. In the House, Democrats flipped more than two dozen districts, some that voted for Trump by double digits in 2024. House Speaker Mike Johnson will not seek election as House Republican leader following the Democrats’ win. Trump faces a profoundly reshaped Washington for the last two years of his presidency. Democrats will have the power to block his legislative agenda, reject his appointees and investigate his administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, delivering a decisive rebuke of Republican governance in Washington and ushering in a new era of congressional resistance to President Donald Trump. Michigan progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed became the latest in his party to win. Tuesday’s midterm elections laid bare voters’ deep frustration with high prices, the war in Iran and concerns about government corruption. Democrats routed their rivals across the map, flipping states that have voted Republican for decades and that Trump won by double digits just two years ago. Democratic control will profoundly reshape Trump’s final two years in office and likely hamstring his ability to push his agenda.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion-rights advocates have achieved victories in Missouri, Nevada and Virginia. In Missouri, a proposed amendment to reimpose abortion restrictions was defeated. Measures in Nevada and Virginia establish a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution. Meanwhile, voters in Missouri also rejected a new congressional map backed by President Donald Trump that had been designed to help Republicans gain an additional seat. In Maryland, voters approved an amendment that could pave the way for congressional redistricting. Supporters had touted it as a way to “stop Trump.” Various states were also considering measures on transgender restrictions, voter ID mandates, and citizen voting rights.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had escalated efforts to interfere in how states run their elections in the weeks leading up to Election Day. But the greatest fears of Democrats and voting rights groups did not come to pass. The biggest problems affecting voting were weather-related, with flooding in Florida and parts of the Southwest leading to polling location changes. In New York’s Westchester County, where some voters cast ballots in a competitive U.S. House race, an issue with malfunctioning scanners required ballots to be placed in secure bags for later counting.

Investigators say they found a piece of the Learjet that slammed into the ground in Florida miles from the crash site. Nine people on board were killed when the jet crashed into a residential area of Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday afternoon. National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said Tuesday that most of the left elevator, which is part of the tail, was found in three pieces between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles away. Chapman says this confirms the plane was breaking apart before it hit the ground.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers ramped up their job postings in September as stronger economic growth may be encouraging more hiring. Yet voters are headed to the polls Tuesday largely gloomy over an economy beset by higher prices. U.S. job openings jumped to 7.5 million from a revised 7.19 million in August, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. It is the largest number of openings since May and up from a recent low of 6.9 million in March. The increases are a hopeful sign that hiring could improve, but the trend would have to continue for several months to suggest real improvement.