Allegheny County At Large Write-In Votes Tell Interesting Story
Days before the last General Election in Allegheny County, County Council At-Large Democratic candidate Bethany Hallam retweeted a message on Twitter that offended many prospective voters, and some high-profile newsmakers called the incumbent out on the action. Days later, a resident of Squirrel Hill, David Knoll, announced that he was launching a write-in campaign as an answer to the controversy. The declaration received print and electronic media coverage. As expected, Hallam won her race, garnering some 203,394 votes. (Republican Sam DeMarco had just over 151,000. Allegheny County government, each major party has an “At Large” member, so even though the race looked like they were running against each other, they each ultimately have a seat at the table.) Only 41% of registered voters pulled a proverbial lever by going to the polls on November 7 th . But what about the write-in campaign? Unless one is in small-town American where teenagers become Mayor with 11 votes, results ar