The 2016 Pennsylvania Primary will be held on Tuesday, and while the Presidential nominations are the headliners, Pennsylvanians also will be nominating candidates for the November general election races for U.S. Senate, state attorney general, state auditor general, state treasurer, U.S. House of Representatives, representative in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and a ballot question.
As of April 19, Centre County has 45,956 registered Democrats (41.89 percent of the county’s voters) and 43,071 registered Republicans (39.26 percent of voters). The rest are unaffiliated (17,471 / 15.93 percent) or registered to Green (223 / .20 percent), Libertarian (634 / .58 percent) or other (2,346 / 2.14 percent) parties.
When
Polls are open in Pennsylvania from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Where
Locally there have been three polling place changes:
State College West Central 2 (Precinct 34) – CBICC 131 S. Fraser St. Suite 1
Harris East (Precinct 56) – Zion Lutheran Church, 304 N. Church St., Boalsburg
Patton North-1 (Precinct 64) – Patton Township Building, 100 Patton Plaza
Confirm your voter registration status
Find your polling place by address
View a sample ballot for your polling place
See a map of polling places
Who
President
Democrats
• Hillary Clinton – Former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator from New York and First Lady
• Bernie Sanders – U.S. Senator from Vermont, former U.S. Representative from Vermont
In the latest Real Clear Politics polling average, Clinton leads Sanders in Pennsylvania 52.7 percent to 38.7 percent
Republicans
• Donald Trump – Businessman and real estate mogul
• Ted Cruz – U.S. Senator from Texas, former Texas Solicitor General and domestic policy adviser to President George W. Bush.
• John Kasich – Governor of Ohio and former U.S. Representative from Ohio
In the latest Real Clear Politics polling average in Pennsylvania, Trump is at 45.8 percent, Cruz at 26.4 percent and Kasic at 23 percent.
Presidential Delegates
U.S. Senate
Democrats
• Joe Sestak– Delaware County, Retired U.S. Navy Admiral and former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania’s 7th District
• Katie McGinty – Chester County, Former Chief of Staff to Gov. Tom Wolf and former DEP Secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell
• John Fetterman – Allegheny County, Mayor of Braddock, Pa.
In the polling average, McGinty leads with 39 percent, with Sestak at 36 and Fetterman at 9.5. McGinty had trailed Sestak in polls for most of the race until April. The three candidates held a debate in State College earlier this month.
Republicans
• Pat Toomey – Lehigh County, Incumbent U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
The Democratic nominee will be looking to unseat Toomey in November. Toomey will be seeking his second term, having narrowly defeated Sestak in 2010.
Attorney General
Democrats
• John Morganelli – Northampton County, District Attorney for Northampton County since 1992
• Josh Shapiro – Montgomery County, Chair of Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
• Stephen Zappala Jr. – Allegheny County, District Attorney for Allegheny County since 1998
The Democratic nominee will look to succeed Kathleen Kane, the first Democrat elected to the position, as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General. Kane was elected in 2012 and declined to run for a second term. An April Harper poll has Shapiro at 41 percent, Zappala at 23 and Morganelli at 15.
Republicans
• Joe Peters – Wyoming County, Former Executive Deputy Attorney General and prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.
• John Rafferty – Montgomery County, Member of Pennsylvania Senate from the 44th District since 2003 and former Deputy Attorney General.
The nominee here will be looking to reclaim the AG’s office for the GOP. Prior to Kane’s victory in 2012, a Republican had held the post since it became an elected office in 1980.
Auditor General
Democrats
• Eugene DePasquale – York County, Incumbent Pennsylvania Auditor General and former member of the Pennsylvania House representing the 95th District.
Republicans
• John Brown – Northampton County, Northampton County Executive since 2014 and former mayor of Bangor, Pa.
State Treasurer
Democrats
• Joe Torsella – Montgomery County, Former Ambassador to the U.N. for Management and Reform and former Chairman of the State Board of Education.
Republicans
• Otto Voit – Berks County, President of Keystone Dental Group and Vice President of Muhlenberg School District Board of Directors.
The winner in the general election will replace Tim Reese, an independent appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2015 after Rob McCord, who had served in the position since 2009, resigned in the wake of federal extortion charges.
U.S. House of Representative – 5th District
Democrats
• Kerith Strano Taylor – Jefferson County, Family Law Attorney and Brookville Area School Board President
Republicans
• Glenn “G.T.” Thompson – Centre County, Incumbent U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania’s 5th District, first elected in 2008.
Thompson will be seeking his fourth term in Congress this fall, while Strano Taylor will seek to become the first Democrat to hold the seat since redistricting more than 40 years ago.
State House Representative – 77th District
Including State College, Ferguson Township (partial), Patton Township (partial), Rush Township, Philipsburg (partial)
Democrats
• Scott Conklin – Centre County, Incumbent Representative to the Pennsylvania General Assembly from the 77th District, first elected in 2006.
Republicans
None
State House Representative – 171st District
Including Ferguson (partial), College Township, Bellefonte, Centre Hall, Harris Township, Spring Township, Millheim
Democrats
• Melody Fleck – Centre County, Retired attorney and volunteer organizer.
Republicans
• Kerry Benninghoff – Centre County, Incumbent Representative to the Pennsylvania General Assembly from the 171st District, first elected in 1997.
State House Representative – 81st District
Democrats
• Rick Rogers – Huntingdon County, Retired U.S. Army Major
Republicans
• Rich Irvin – Huntingdon County, Incumbent Representative to the Pennsylvania Assembly from the 81st District.
• Mary Ann Buckley – Huntingdon County, Business teacher at Huntingdon Area High School
Ballot question
Abolition of Philadelphia Traffic Court
The Philadelphia Traffic Court was already shut down by state legislators in 2013 following a series of corruption scandals and its responsibilities were transferred to municipal court. A “Yes” vote would simply remove its position in the Pennsylvania Constitution, preventing it from being returned in the future.
Amending the Mandatory Retirement Age
This ballot question may still appear on ballots, but has been officially moved to the general election in November. The question would have asked if the state Constitution should be changed to require judges to be retired before their 76th birthdays, as opposed to the current requirement that they be retired before their 71st birthdays. Votes cast on primary ballots for this question will not be counted.
