Philadelphia's Democratic Primary 2010 Election Results & Interview with Voters

Pennsylvania's Democratic candidates for the Senate 2010 primary, Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter, have been running a tight race for the last two weeks and as of May 6 2010, Sestak led with 47 percent and Specter had only 42 percent of the vote, according to the Rasmussen Reports polls conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. From that date until now, the gap closed and they ran neck to neck until this morning when the polls opened May 18 2010 at 7 a.m. EST.

The "unofficial" numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of State website, as of the time of this writing at 10: 10 p.m. EST, show Mr. Sestak with 53.3 percent of the vote and Mr. Specter with 46.7 percent of the vote and only 44 percent of precincts reporting.

Polling Place Information
When I voted at approximately 5 p.m. Tuesday, the polls were completely empty with exception for three voters and numerous Committee workers and me; only a few more showed while I was there. The polling place, which is located at the Wissinoming Boys Club, 4133 Van Kirk St, Philadelphia, PA 19135, had Republican and Democratic Committee volunteers standing at the ready with their polling papers to show who was favoring which candidate. Mr. Sestak did some last minute campaigning at the William Penn House in Philadelphia as well, apparently winning over many more voters than Specter has.

My Vote and Why
My vote for Joe Sestak was an easy one for me; I do not trust Specter and his switching parties to save his political career. Philadelphian or not, it is wrong to turn your back on the party and the voters who gave him a paycheck all these years. He knew he would lose the Republican seat, so he changed to save it, thinking he would win over Sestak.

This is also the problem, read: failure, of Specter as well. While Sestak did use a lot of smear campaigns, which in itself is wrong, Specter lost trust in many people by doing what he did. Sestak stuck by the voters and has lived up to many of his promises, which will lead to a good future for Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular.

Introducing Mr. Herb Rice: Democrat for Arlen Specter

I had the honor of talking to Herb Rice, a Democratic voter from Philadelphia. Mr. Rice stated he voted for Arlen Specter. When asked what his reasons were for this vote, he stated, "Ever since Specter switched parties to run for and win the DA's office, he has shown that he is a true Democrat, even though he sat as a Republican all these years. Specter has consistently voted for Democratic issues and has a much better voting record than Sestak."

When Mr. Rice was asked what was the deciding factor upon voting for Specter, he stated, "I would have voted for Specter no matter what. I think Specter has the community in mind. He creates jobs for all people, not just small subsets. He is also impressive when it comes to performance in the Senate, even though he has been in the Senate as a Republican."

I asked what Mr. Rice thought were the major successes and/or failures of the candidates up until voting day and he replied, "The biggest thing both candidates has done is smear each other. I do not like the smear campaigns and there is no place for them in a campaign, as both candidates-especially Sestak-chose to do at the end with his targeted ads against Specter. I think Specter has shown that when the people at the top promise something to the community, they should keep their commitments, which is one thing Specter has done right all along."

Introducing Joanne Kincaid: Democratic Volunteer Committee Worker for Arlen Specter

Another voter, Joanne Kincaid, a Democrat and a volunteer Committee worker from Philadelphia also voted for Specter. When Ms. Kincaid was asked what the deciding factor for her vote was, she replied, "Specter is a Philadelphian, period. He is an experienced Senator who is from Philadelphia and he looks out for other Philadelphians. His past voting record and experience in the Senate speaks for itself when predicting the future for the people of Philadelphia; the outcome can only be good."

When I asked Ms. Kincaid what she thought were the successes or failures of the candidates until this point she agreed with Mr. Rice when she replied, "The constant negativity of the ads are what is wrong. They show up on the TV constantly and you see them so much, you just want them to go away, you want the negativity to truly end." She also mentioned that, "This Primary, because of the neck and neck race, made the candidates get out on the scene and campaign more; they had to go out and meet more people."

Introducing Mr. Edward Mezzanotte: Democrat for Joe Sestak

Another voter, Edward Mezzanotte, a Democratic voter from Philadelphia, voted for Joe Sestak. When he was asked what was the deciding factor for this vote he replied, "Sestak stuck with the Democratic game plan all along. He votes with the Democratic Party on most issues and he sticks with the Democratic policies. Joe Sestak has an impressive military background (he was a decorated Naval Admiral) and he is very intelligent, which really shows in his politics and he is to be respected for the seat."

When Mr. Mezzanotte was asked what his thoughts on the successes or failures of the candidates were until today he replied, "They all (the candidates) push their own legislation, but they have pushed good legislation which will offer a good outcome for Philadelphia. However, Specter switching parties trying to save his job, that's not so good for Philadelphians and it certainly should not be ignored."

Introducing Ryan Schukis: Democratic Committee Worker: No Vote yet
A Committee worker, Ryan Schukis, who was just returning from knocking on doors and talking to people who had not gotten to vote yet. Although he did say he usually waits until everyone else has voted, it is only because he likes to focus on getting others to the polls while they still can. Mr Schukis, while he is a Democrat, had not yet voted at the time of interview, although at the end of our conversation, he did say about Specter, "He's a good guy and is trying to help the public; he's got my vote!"

I did ask Mr. Schukis a few questions concerning the voter turnout and he replied, "This years Senate Primary turnout is about the same as it has been for the past few Primaries. We have a lot of senior voters in this area, it is pretty steady with them; it's the kids we worry about (not voting)."

The Final Outcome
As I was leaving to write these interviews, a committee member unofficially stated there had been fewer then 100 voters who turned out by that time, which was around 7 p.m. EST. Considering what is at stake for Philadelphia and all of Pennsylvania this year, I hope the other districts fared much better than we did.

At this time, it is now midnight, the "unofficial numbers" state Sestak has 53.8 percent of the vote and Specter has 46.2 with a little over 96 percent of all precincts reporting. While these percentages have hardly moved an inch, many more districts have reported, so the numbers are split the same just about everywhere. Some reports are stating Sestak has already won, and I have to agree.

I thank all of the voters and volunteers who agreed to take some time out of their busy schedules to talk with me about the primary.

Pennsylvania Department of State, "2010 General Primary May 18 2010 Unofficial Election Results," Commonwealth of PA, Elections Information
Scott Rasmussen, "Election 2010, Pennsylvania's Democratic Primary for Senate," Rasmussen reports
Associated Press, Sestak beats Specter in PA Dem. Senate Race," MSNBC