This past Tuesday, voters across the Delaware Valley went to the polls to vote in multiple high-stakes elections that drew unusually high turnout and attention for odd-year races. The popular consensus is that the Democrats came out on top in what has been described as a litmus test both for President Donald Trump’s second term and the mid-term elections next year. Philadelphia County drew a 35 percent voter turnout, a low number, but still higher than 2023’s 31 percent turnout, according to the City Commissioner’s website.
“We want to keep this reformed criminal justice system that focuses on being fair and getting it right. We won’t go back to the old corrupt system of getting a conviction even if it’s of the wrong guy or giving the wrong sentence just to look tough,” said Democrat Larry Krasner, who sailed to re-election as Philadelphia District Attorney, in a statement from his campaign’s Facebook page. The unofficial tally holds Krasner with 75 percent of the vote to Republican former judge Mike Dugan’s 23 percent.
In the highly watched judicial retention elections, all three Democrat-aligned incumbents were retained. According to the unofficial tally by Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State, Judges Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht garnered 61 percent of the “yes” option by voters who were asked if they should be retained. Two days before voters went to the polls, President Donald Trump told voters to vote “no” in the election in a TruthSocial post.
The only notable hiccup in Tuesday’s elections was in Chester County, where poll books delivered to polling places did not include the names of unaffiliated or third-party voters. The county had delivered the correct poll books by 3:45 pm, and a local judge extended voting in the county until 10 pm The county has since opened an investigation into the error.
Across the Delaware River, New Jersey voters also went to the polls in a closely watched governor’s race. In what was initially expected to be a tight race, Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill defeated former Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciatarelli 56 percent to 42 percent, according to NBC News. Bomb threats made to seven polling sites across seven counties in the state were determined to be false, with New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way saying in a press release: “Law enforcement has determined that there are no credible threats at this time.” 6abc News later reported that an arrest had been made in connection with the threats.
Other notable results from election day include former Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger winning her race for Virginia’s governor, and state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani winning his race for Mayor of New York City.To register to vote in Pennsylvania, you can do so online here. The last day to vote in Pennsylvania’s 2026 primary election will be May 4.