Montgomery County sees 24 percent voter turnout in primary election
More than 147,000 Montgomery County voters went to the polls during Tuesday’s primary election to pick candidates they’d like to see on the ballot in November.
With 621,925 registered voters, the state’s third most populous county saw a 23.71 percent voter turnout rate, with 147,469 ballots collected as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the unofficial results from the county’s election summary report.
“There were few competitive contests, but over 85,000 voters went to the polls yesterday in Montgomery County, and 61,000 voters mailed in their ballots. I want to thank the 2,907 poll workers, student poll workers, and constables who were out there all day yesterday, during one of the hottest election days that I can remember,” Montgomery County Election Board Chairman Neil Makhija told MediaNews Group.
The election’s in-person component had 85,702 ballots cast across 428 polling places, according to unofficial results from the county’s election dashboard. There were 2,907 poll workers participating in the 2026 primary election, according to a Montgomery County spokesperson, as officials took to social media to express their appreciation to the constables as well as adult and student poll workers.
“A huge thank you to the election workers, county staff and volunteers who made Primary Election Day possible! Behind every election are dedicated public servants working long hours to help ensure voters across Montgomery County safely and securely exercise their constitutional right to vote,” a Montgomery County spokesperson said in a Facebook post.
Of the 63,191 absentee and mail-in ballots returned, 61,767 ballots were counted, while the remaining 1,424 were pending evaluation, according to unofficial results from the county’s election dashboard.
Provisional ballot counting will begin on Friday, while U.S. military personnel and American citizens living abroad have until Monday, May 26, to return their ballots.
Congressional, state races
Tuesday’s primary election featured candidates in several congressional, gubernatorial and state legislator races ahead of the November general election.
Sample ballots revealed several congressional candidates running unopposed for their party nominations, including Madeleine Dean and Brian Fitzpatrick, a Democrat and a Republican representing Montgomery County constituents in the fourth and first districts, respectively.
In the First Congressional District, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie won the Democratic nomination with 6,989 votes against climate scientist Lucia Simonelli’s 4,560 votes. Harvie will face off against Fitzpatrick, the incumbent Republican who’s held the seat since 2017.
The district encompasses most of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County that includes part of Lansdale and Souderton.
Dean received 78,336 votes in the Fourth Congressional District race and will face off against Republican challenger and West Norriton Township resident Aurora Stuski. Stuski received 26,843 votes, with 763 write-in votes recorded in the Republican primary. Dean’s primary ballot also had 372 write-in votes.
In the race for the governor’s mansion, Gov. Josh Shapiro ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination and received 104,173 votes, with 1,036 write-in votes recorded. Shapiro will face Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity in November. The Republican candidate received 35,815 votes and 1,777 write-in votes in the primary.
Also at the state level, while many incumbent candidates ran unopposed, seeking re-election to seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in Harrisburg, a handful of Democratic primaries saw challengers.
In the 4th Legislative District, incumbent state Sen. Art Haywood held onto the Democratic nomination with 20,216 votes to fellow Democrat Mike Cogbill’s 1,874 votes. Another 37 write-in votes were recorded in the primary race. Haywood will go up against Republican challenger Todd Johnson, who ran unopposed with 3,387 votes and 121 write-in votes.
Additionally, the 148th Legislative District saw several candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, while no Republicans opted to run. Ballot results revealed Megan Griffin-Shelley as the frontrunner with 4,879 votes, followed by Jason Landau Goodman, with 4,777 votes; Leo Solga had 1,846 votes, and Andrea Deutsch rounded out the candidate pool with 1,525 votes.
Referendums
At the local level, two Montgomery County municipalities had referendums for voters to consider.
Lower Salford Township residents agreed to pay a 0.25 percent earned income tax increase to further efforts to preserve open space, with 3,130 yes votes and 680 no votes recorded. The ballot question noted the proposed acquisition of “the Allebach property,” located at 460 Stover Road, in Harleysville.
In Horsham Township, voters agreed to amend several sections of the township code, with 3,095 yes votes and 1,494 no votes recorded. Revisions covered a series of topics, such as changing “councilman” to “councilmember” in order to remove “gender-specific pronouns with gender-neutral pronouns throughout.” Other considerations included judgeship titles, advertisement periods and term limits, according to a sample ballot.
“Election day is over, but our Voter Services team will keep working hard on tabulation and certification,” Makhija said. “I’m grateful for everyone who turned out to exercise their hard won right to vote.”
All results remain unofficial until certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Results must be certified by Monday, June 8, according to a Montgomery County spokesperson.
