Politics & Government

Pennsylvania Election Unofficial Results 2012: Obama, Sen. Casey Re-Elected

Democrats also win PA Auditor General, Treasurer, and Attorney General races.

LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS

% reporting Race Democratic Candidates Results Republican Candidates Results 98.8
U.S. President Obama-Biden 2,864,619
Romney-Ryan 2,580,543
89.26 U.S. Senate Bob Casey Jr. 2,899,659
Tom Smith 2,417,029
89.26 PA Treasurer Robert M. McCord 2,762,278
Diana Irey Vaughan 2,315,845
89.26 PA Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane 3,005,522
David J. Freed 2,227,836
70.25 PA Auditor General Eugene A. DePasquale 2,623,291
John Maher 2,454,802
85.77 Congress District 12 Mark Critz 144,702 Keith Rothfus

 

149,529

Find out what's happening in Plum-Oakmontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

99.41 Allegheny/100 Wesmoreland
Congress District 14 Mike Doyle 235,195/4,461
Hans Lessman 69,305/2,500

President Barack Obama has been re-elected for another four-year term.

Obama also won in Pennsylvania, gaining the state's 20 electoral votes, according to CBS, NBC and ABC.

Find out what's happening in Plum-Oakmontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In Pennsylvania's 2012 race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D-Scranton) defeated Tom Smith (R-Shelocta).

In Pennsylvania's 2012 race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D-Scranton) defeated Tom Smith (R-Shelocta). 

In the races for three state offices:

  • Auditor General: Democrat Eugene A. DePasquale of York County defeated Republican John Maher of Upper St. Clair and Libertarian Betsy Elizabeth Summers
  • Attorney General: Democrat Kathleen G. Kane of Lackawanna County defeated Republican David J. Freed of Cumberland County and Libertarian Marakay J. Rogers.
  • Treasurer: Incumbent Democrat Robert M. McCord of Montgomery County defeated Republican Diana Irey Vaughan of Washington County and Libertarian Patricia M. Fryman.

In the congressional race in the newly redesigned 12th District, Republican Keith Rothfus of Edgeworth defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Critz of Johnstown. The district covers Plum Borough.

In the 14th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Mike Doyle of Forest Hills beat Republican Hans Lessman. The district covers Oakmont and Verona.

For local state senate and house race results, visit http://patch.com/A-zrCq.

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Prior to Tuesday's vote, influential Pennsylvania political insiders differed on the key to winning the Keystone State for President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Republicans said the role of undecided and independent voters would be key to a Romney win, while Democrats said turning out their base was the top priority for Obama, according to Red Keystone/Blue Keystone surveys by Patch.

Here's how the replies from survey respondents broke down:

Republicans on what's more important

  • 13 — Get out the base
  • 35 — Convince undecided/independent voters

Democrats on what's more important

  • 21 — Get out the base
  • 6 — Convince undecided/independent voters

Who will win Pennsylvania?

Democrats were far more unified than Republicans in their opinion of who will win Pennsylvania. Twenty-seven said Obama, while just two said Romney. Eighteen Republicans said Obama and 32 said Romney.

Who had the best ground game and ad campaign?

Democrats and Republicans both largely supported their party candidate on the question of who ran the best campaign. Patch asked survey takers to assess the campaigns, regardless of the respondent's partisan preference.

How did Pa. vote in 2008 presidential race?

In 2008, Pennsylvania voted Democratic, with nearly 3.3 million voters, or 55 percent, casting ballots for the Obama-Biden team. Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin earned nearly 2.7 million votes. According to statistics collected by the Pennsylvania Department of State office, voter turnout tallied about 68.4 percent in 2008. 

2010 was a much better election year, however, for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania.

Former state Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, defeated then-Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, a Democrat, in the race for governor. Republicans also picked up a seat in the state Senate, gained five seats in the House of Representatives and took control of both chambers of the Legislature.

Here's a sampling of comments from the Patch surveys:

Republicans

  • I think the results will be extremely close and will be based on turnout, yet at the same time, I believe the local elections down the ballot will be affected in results by the amount of times a person is willing to switch parties. They will for president, but the questions remains, when will they change back to their party.
  • If Pennsylvania goes to Romney, it's going to be an early election night. Looks like team R and R may have caught the President flat-footed.
  • Republicans will increase house margin from 12-7 to 13-5.
  • Record voter turnout in GOP areas, average turnout in Dem areas.
  • I think voters are disappointed with how things have gone the past four years and will make that frustration heard at the polls on Tuesday.

Democrats

  • The presidential campaign has been lackluster in Pennsylvania. Obama felt that this was his state from the beginning, and Romney has not been highly involved until recently.
  • While I believe the enthusiasm for President Obama has diminished a bit since the 2008 election, I'm not seeing much enthusiasm at all for Gov. Romney.
  • I think Casey, Kane, and McCord will win. Auditor General will be a nail biter and unfortunately I believe Mark Critz is going to lose. I think the Democrats will pick up a total of 4-6 seats in the state House and 1 in the state Senate.
  • Pennsylvania must institute an early voting program—similar to 37 other states. 
  • I am distressed and, quite frankly, disgusted with the influence of the Super PACs on this election. Money should not buy a candidate an office and these Super PACs exist only to use their dollars to buy the office for the candidate of their choice. Their ads are, in many cases, misleading and misinformed. If those individuals have so much money, why don't they use it to help people rather than work to tear our country apart with their rhetoric?

Also on the presidential ballot is Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

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