Mustello comes out on top in District 11 primary
Republican Marci Mustello, incumbent representative for state House 11th District, bested challenger Jennifer Steele in the primary election Tuesday.
The unofficial results showed Mustello received 7,458 votes, while Steele received 2,490 votes.
Mustello, of Butler Township, compared her reelection campaign to a “final exam,” where she promoted the work she had been doing for the past three years while in office and asked for continued support from voters.
“Election day is really accountability day to the voters I represent,” she said. “Today's vote is evident of the support I have, evidence of my services, what my staff has been doing, what we have been doing the past three years, the services we provide and the messaging of what the people of Butler County want.”
Steele, a resident of Summit Township, said she is proud of the campaign she ran for the past several months in hopes of becoming the Republican nominee for the seat. She said she plans to continue her engagement with political action in Butler County and the state. Steele said meeting people in the county while she was campaigning was rewarding as well.
“I will definitely try again in two years,” Steele said. “I think my campaign was phenomenal. I had a ton of volunteers who I didn't have to ask for help. Door knocking was amazing; I met so many amazing people.”
No Democratic candidates filed to run in the 11th District primary, so Mustello could only be challenged by write-in candidates in the November midterm election.
Mustello first assumed her seat in the House after winning a special election in May 2019. She was reelected in 2020.
Mustello will continue to represent the 11th District, which was slightly revised by redistricting this year. The revised district consists of Butler City; townships of Buffalo, Butler, Clearfield, Clinton, Donegal, Jefferson, Oakland, Summit and Winfield; and boroughs of Chicora, East Butler and Saxonburg.
Municipalities added to the district include Buffalo, Clinton and Winfield townships. Some municipalities have moved to other restructured districts, including Connoquenessing and Fairview townships, as well as Connoquenessing, Fairview, Karns City, Petrolia and Prospect boroughs.
Mustello said she spent time campaigning in the townships new to the district Tuesday.
“I'm spending most of the day in the new part of the district which is Buffalo, Clinton and Winfield Township,” Mustello said. “It has been a good day, beautiful weather and good turnout in these parts. For a primary I love seeing that, that it's a busy day.”
Mustello said she wants to focus on economic endeavors during a new term in office, having dealt with challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years.
“After coming off the past couple years of this pandemic, we've seen a lot of businesses closed that are not going to come back, so (my focus is on) making sure some of those employees are trained for employment, whatever field they want to go into, and making sure new businesses have what they need to succeed,” Mustello said.
