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 7th.
But what about the write-in campaign? Unless one is in
small-town American where teenagers become Mayor with 11 votes, results are
never viewed. Until now.
According to election results provided by the Allegheny
County Elections Department, some 3,806 write-in votes (1.06%) were tallied for
the Allegheny County At-Large races. And the results were interesting.
Knoll spoke to approximately 80-85% of those who wrote down
an alternative to both Hallam and DeMarco. Because Democrats have a wide
advantage over Republicans in voter registration, one could only assume that
most of the 3,000 or so that voted for Knoll might have voted for Hallam.
Knoll’s write-in campaign was symbolic; who knows how many
voters would have diverted from the party-line otherwise?
As one scours the list, there were the usual “Anyone else,” “Your
Mom” and “My left foot” which dictates nods of defiance.
Joanna Doven, a Democrat who ran against Hallam in the
spring primary, received several votes (she probably came in second to Knoll),
as did outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Current State
Representative Abigail Salisbury, who was one of the highest profile elected local
officials to state publicly that she was voting for Knoll, was on the receiving
end of a couple of votes.
Democrat Denise Brownfield, a popular community activist and
School Board member who will be installed as the city of Duquesne’s newest
Councilwoman early in 2024, had seven write in votes from her home
municipality.
Political names from the past, like former Mayors Bill
Peduto and Luke Ravenstahl, the Gotham Rogue’s placekicker’s brother, Adam
Ravenstahl, a former State Representative in his own right, received votes.
While the county’s first ACE James Roddy got mentioned, his long-time rival,
former Medical Examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht, didn’t earn a vote. “Trump,”
presumably the 45th President, and not one of his children, made the
cut.
Then there were the usual vote-getters, Mr. Rogers, Marlon
Brando, Bugs Bunny, Mickey and Minnie Mouse; in addition, the Dark Knight
himself, Batman, had two.
Sports stars often receive attention in these races. Kansas
City Chief and Taylor Swift’s current squeeze, Travis Kelce (who may not be
qualified, living outside of the county lines) tied with Steeler’s all-world
linebacker T.J. Watt with one vote. Sports personalities Ellis Cannon and Mark
Madden had write-ins, probably from fans.
The rest consisted of the names of friends, family—“vanity”
votes for fun and folly—(a Google search names vote getter Ralph Horgan as a member
of the CMU faculty).
That’s one of the most interesting parts of the American
voting practice…scribbling down a name not on the ballot.
Comments
Post a Comment