DeMarco Claims Victory

The Democrat who launched a write-in campaign for his party’s nomination to run in the 40th Pennsylvania State Senate district general election says his research shows he has won. Ross Township Commissioner Dan DeMarco says his campaign workers were able to look at results that were posted by poll workers the night of the election and then again Wednesday. He says after looking at half of the precincts, which account for 51% of the write in votes cast, he is leading State Sen. Jane Orie by a 4 to 1 margin. A total of 4,758 write-in votes were cast in the 40th district Democratic Primary. To earn a spot on the November ballot a write-in candidate must get a minimum of 500 votes and have more votes than any other candidate. Any spelling variations can be challenged. Allegheny County Election Division Manager Mark Wolosik says the county will not start counting the write-in ballots until next week. DeMarco says he is confident he will win and is ready to launch his campaign for the general election. He says it is clear that the voters do not want to just let an incumbent walk back into office. DeMarco launched his write-in campaign after Republican Jane Orie was indicted by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office for allegedly misusing state assets for campaign purposes. Orie countered by launching her own write-in campaign. Orie also ran unopposed in the Republican Primary. DeMarco says he looks forward to talking about issues such as controlling spending, limiting taxing and reforming the state legislature.