Pa. primary elections “relatively calm and successful,” top election official says

by John Cole, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
May 20, 2025

One hour after polls closed Tuesday, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said that “it’s been a relatively calm and successful primary election day,” in the Keystone State. 

“As always, I’d like to thank the hundreds of county election officials and the approximately 45,000 poll workers who made democracy possible today,” Schmidt said. “Because of them, Pennsylvanians were able to cast their vote at more than 9,000 precincts across 67 counties.”

“A quiet day like today is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our county election officials, especially those new ones who are running elections for the first time and have done their part to make sure voters in their counties can cast their ballot and make their voice heard,” he added.

The 2025 primary election featured contested Republican races for the state’s Superior and Commonwealth courts. There was only one Democratic candidate in each race who will move on to the general election.

Despite few statewide races, several of the state’s biggest cities had big-ticket contests Tuesday. Pittsburgh and several other Democratic strongholds held mayoral primaries, while Philadelphia Democrats voted in a closely watched district attorney primary.

Schmidt said that although municipal primaries are lower profile elections, in his experience, they are some of the most complex.

“There are so many different candidates running for so many different offices, down ticket at the local level, that makes them a particular challenge,” Schmidt said. “Nevertheless, we had reports of only a few minor and isolated issues occurring in the Commonwealth.”

Schmidt said that the Department of State received approximately 500 calls on its voter hotline, which is fewer than the municipal primary election in 2023, when the state received about 600 calls.

“It’s not an insignificant number, of course, but it does demonstrate that Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly encountered an improved voting experience this year,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said that with a “successful primary election day” behind them, it was now time for election workers across the state to count the votes. Although voter turnout tends to be lower during these primary elections, he urged patience, saying “this work takes time.”

As of 7:30 p.m., Schmidt said counties reported at least 70% of the 800,000 mail-in ballots issued had been returned.

The official vote count will be available in a few days, according to the Department of State, but it added that “anecdotal reports indicate turnout was typical for municipal primary elections.”

Unofficial results for the statewide races can be found on the Department of State’s website: electionreturns.pa.gov.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.