Election Roundup: Unofficial results indicate Republican wins across Butler County races
Butler County overwhelmingly supported Republican candidates on Tuesday, Nov. 5, reelecting Republican candidates for the U.S. house, the state house and the state senate.
Republican incumbents, Marci Mustello and Stephenie Sciabbala will return to the State House of Representatives in the 11th District and the 21st District, respectively.
Elder Vogel, Republican incumbent, will proceed also to another term, his in the 47th District of the state senate.
Mike Kelly, again a Republican incumbent, was chosen to continue forward in his role serving the 16th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Read more below.
Republican state Sen. Elder Vogel won an overwhelming victory for his fifth term over Democratic challenger Kate Lennen to represent the 47th District.
Vogel’s 96,263 votes nearly doubled the 54,398 votes that Lennen received, according to unofficial results in Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties early Wednesday morning, Nov. 6.
Republican Mike Kelly has secured his eighth term representing Butler County and surrounding counties in the 16th Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to unofficial election results Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Kelly, 76, of Butler defeated Democratic challenger Preston Nouri, 25, of Erie County in a 259,003-to-140,883 vote, unofficial election results from the six counties included in the district.
State Rep. Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, won reelection Tuesday, Nov. 5, besting Robert Vigue, the Democratic challenger for the seat, according to unofficial election results.
The unofficial results of the countywide count show Scialabba earned 27,595 votes, or 64.87% of the vote, while Vigue earned a projected 14,873, or 34.96% of the vote, in the district, which includes the townships of Cranberry, Adams and Jackson, along with the boroughs of Zelienople, Harmony, Evans City, Seven Fields, Callery, Mars and Valencia.
Marci Mustello, the incumbent candidate for the 11th District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, won reelection against Libertarian challenger and Butler County business owner Justin Konchar, by a landslide.
The unofficial results of the countywide count show that Mustello earned 29,253 votes, or 86.13% of the vote, to Konchar’s 4,339, or 12.78% of the vote.
Mustello said she ran her campaign this year in a similar way to her previous campaigns, while keeping her doors open to constituents.
Unofficial, incomplete results posted to Pennsylvania’s website at midnight Wednesday, Nov. 6, indicated Republican candidates were ahead in the attorney general, auditor general and treasurer races.
At midnight, Republican candidate for attorney general Dave Sunday had received 50.91% of the state’s votes, while Democratic candidate Eugene DePasquale trailed with 46.11% of the vote. Other votes went to Libertarian, Green Party and other third party candidates.
The U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican businessman Dave McCormick was too close to call early Wednesday morning, Nov. 6.
Incomplete, unofficial statewide totals had McCormick with a slight lead of 2,748,207 votes, or 49.12%, to Casey’s 2,704,139 votes, or 48.33%.
In Butler County, McCormick’s margin was wider, with 64.08% of the vote, or 76,735 votes, compared to Casey’s 33.72% or 40,375 votes.
The campaigns for both presidential candidates took twists and turns throughout the 2024 general election cycle, with an attempted assassination shaking up former President Donald Trump’s campaign, and President Joe Biden dropping out of the race before endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
In the historically Republican-leaning county, Butler County’s Republican and Democratic committee leaders worked to unite their political bases around their respective candidates, bringing in a combined 119,193 votes for their presidential candidates.
Trump received 79,147 votes, or 65.61% of the vote, while Harris received 40,046 votes, or 33.20% of the vote, in Butler County, according to unofficial results from the Election Bureau on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
11:05 p.m. — 96 of 96 precincts are reporting in Butler County. Watch www.butlereagle.com for more updates.
10:45 p.m. — 94 of 96 precincts are reporting in Butler County.
10:32 p.m. — Stephenie Scialabba, Republican incumbent, has been re-elected to the state house of representatives district 12.
10:28 p.m. — Elder Vogel, Republican incumbent, appears to have won re-election to the 47th state senate seat. Vogel is leading in Butler and Beaver county, according to incomplete results.
10:20 p.m. — Incumbent and Republican candidate, Mike Kelly, has been re-elected to the U.S. House, 16th District, defeating Democratic candidate Preston Nouri, according to the Associated Press.
10:14 p.m. — Republican candidate and incumbent, Marci Mustello has won the election for state house of representatives district 11 in the race against Libertarian Justin Konchar. There are 86 of 96 precincts reporting at this time.
10:03 p.m. — With 58 of 96 precincts reporting, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has garnered 67.98 percent of Butler County’s vote. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has garnered 30.85 percent. These results are not complete.
9:54 p.m. — With 58 of 96 precincts reporting, Marci Mustello is leading over Justin Konchar with 21,095 votes. Konchar has received 3,046 votes at this time. These results are not complete.
With the same amount of precincts reporting, Stephenie Scialabba has received 8,148 votes, leading over her opponent, Vigue, who has 4,042 votes. These results are not complete.
In Butler County, Elder Vogel has received 9,816 votes with 58 of 96 precincts reporting. Vogel leads over opponent, Kate Lennen, who currently has 5,263 votes. This race is also affected by results in neighboring counties. These results are not complete.
9:50 p.m. — At 9:50 p.m., 39 precincts are reporting, according to the Butler County Election Bureau. No summary report has been posted to the bureau’s website at this time.
9:43 p.m. — With 3 of 27 releveant precincts reporting, Scialabba has 2,011 votes, leading over Vigue, who has 972 votes.
9:34 p.m. -- With 6 of 28 precincts relevant reporting, Mustello is leading over her opponent with 4,842 votes. Konchar has 549 votes.
9:24 p.m. -- The first few precincts in Butler County are reporting results.
8 p.m. -- Polls are now closed in Butler County. The Butler Eagle will be following the results from these races, as possible, throughout the evening:
- U.S. House, 16th District: Mike Kelly (Republican) vs. Preston Nouri (Democrat)
- State House, 21st District, Stephenie Sciabbala (Republican) vs. Robert Vigue (Democrat)
- State House, 11th District, Marci Mustello (Republican) vs. Justin Konchar (Libertarian)
- State Senate, 47th District: Elder Vogel (Republican) vs Kate Lennen (Democrat)
Stay tuned for the latest.
Read more about the candidates for each of the above races.
Republican candidate, Elder Vogel, the incumbent, in a pre-election interview highlighted how he serves on several Senate committees that give him experience and knowledge of a variety of issues.
“I like working for the people and helping people the best I can,” he said.
He said inflation and the cost of living are issues he hears about the most. He also talked about how employers have had difficulty in finding employees in all industries since the pandemic. Health care and immigration also are important issues, he said.
Kate Lennen, the Democratic candidate, said she believes education funding, railroad safety, and reproductive freedom are the top issues in the election.
Equitable, need-based funding should replace the current funding system, she said.
Reproductive freedom is at or near the top of the reasons she is running for office, she said. She said she has two daughters in their childbearing years. She believes that these kinds of restrictions treat women like they aren’t able to make their own medical decisions.
Mike Kelly, the Republican incumbent, said he can help revitalize the state economy, which is currently being defined by inflation and an increasing cost of living.
Pointing the problem of the region’s economic troubles on the Biden administration and Biden’s energy policies. He wants to restore some fiscal sanity to Washington, to put American energy first, and to give hardworking Pennsylvanians an at the American dream once again.
Democratic candidate, Preston Nouri, Kelly’s challenger, said he can help revitalize the state economy, which is currently being defined by inflation and an increasing cost of living. He says that he’s seen his family and neighbors struggle just to make ends meet, despite working long hours.
Nouri puts most of the blame on the region’s economic struggles on corporate greed and lack of decent-paying jobs. He believes that theirs a need to crack down on corporate price gouging and bring good-paying jobs back. He believes that every community in this large district deserves a representative who listens to them.
State House, 11th district, Marci Mustello vs. Justin Konchar
Republican candidate, Marci Mustello, the incumbent, said she will focus on economic issues such as revitalizing Pennsylvania’s economy, reducing inflation, and keeping state government budget to a minimum.
She said she will continue to support legislation that will reduce gasoline tax, cut taxes on small businesses, increase accessibility to natural gas drilling, and reduce inflation that is harming our families.
She is also focusing on finding concrete ways to solve Pennsylvania’s drug problems. She supports legislation that would place mandatory minimums on drug dealers and provide funds for rehabilitation centers to help people transition from addiction to productive members of society.
Justin Konchar, the Liberterian candidate, is focused on making the economy work for Butler County residents. There are a lot of laws and regulations that don’t make sense and need to be removed, he said.
He said he is interested in removing roadblocks that are in place for home ownership and entrepreneurship and wants people to invest in their communities and to feel that they’re invested in the community’s well-being.
He also wants to revitalize the area’s economy, propose policies such as a “Tiny Home Protection Act,” that would eliminate or reduce minimum lot size and square footage requirements, and a “home business act,” that would allow residents to set up businesses in residential zones as long as they live on the property and decriminalize marijuana and abolish the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
State House, 21st district, Stephenie Sciabbala vs. Robert Vigue
Republican candidate and the incumbent in this race, Stephenie Sciabbala said she wants responsible government spending, securing the necessary infrastructure funding, limiting government overreach, and keeping the community safe.
“We need to start living within our means and stop taxing the life out of our residents,” she said.
Democratic challenger, Robert Vigue is running on infrastructure development, making housing affordable, strengthening community involvement, and upholding fairness and equity in all areas of life.
He said he feels that he is in tune with the community's needs, in balancing development with infrastructure improvements and support for public schools is the key to sustainable growth.
State of the Elections - A look at security leading up to Election Day
When polls close on election night, the voting machines used at Butler County precincts will be transported to the election bureau’s West Cunningham Street office by multiple county employees, and the ballots placed in sealed containers are taken there by a team of two poll workers from each precinct.
Butler County Bureau of Elections staff then checks that the seals are intact as the containers arrive at the bureaus, and the ballots remain in those containers after Election Day.
When a vote is cast at a poll, the vote and an image of the ballot are stored on a machine-specific USB media device that is plugged into the voting machine.
