Joe Ciresi Defeats Michael McCloskey In 146th District

LIMERICK, PA — Joe Ciresi has defeated Michael McCloskey by a large margin to maintain his seat.

With only a small number of mail-in ballots still to be tabulated, Ciresi has gained 20,333 votes to McCloskey's 13,914. That margin is similar to Ciresi's 2022 margin of victory of about 7,000 votes.

1:01 a.m.

Incumbent Joe Ciresi held a commanding lead into the early morning hours Wednesday over challenging Republican Michael McCloskey. He led by more than 4,800 votes just after midnight, a significant margin that made it very likely he would hold on to the seat.

However, with a few precincts still not reporting and mail-in ballots still being tabulated, the race is too close to call.

12:16 a.m.

• Ciresi: 16,825
• McCloskey: 12,035

10:59 p.m.

Minimal new precincts within the 146th have been counted in the past hour, with vote totals remaining very similar and Ciresi holding a commanding lead.

• Ciresi: 6,647
• McCloskey: 2,441

9:42 p.m.

Ciresi still has a huge advantage as some of the in-person votes begin to be tallied. Across Montgomery County, 23 precincts have reported in, and 16,166 total in person votes have been tallied. Meanwhile, 99,527 mail-in ballots have been tallied, out of 171,347 received.

In the 146th:

• Ciresi: 6,511
• McCloskey: 2,395

8:47 p.m.

A total of 171,347 mail-in ballots were received in Montgomery County in the 2024 election, the county said. About 94,577 have been counted. No in-person tallies are yet available in the county.

Ciresi: 5,750

McCloskey: 2,067

8:40 p.m.

As the Democratic lead grows as expected in Pennsylvania with the early mail-in vote tabulation, it's important to note that this will dwindle significantly in the coming hours. Montgomery County elections chief Neil Makhija said Tuesday that Republican candidates would likely steadily make up ground up until midnight, when in-person balloting is likely to be complete.

Mail-in balloting will be about two thirds finished in most of the state by midnight, officials estimate.

LIMERICK TOWNSHIP, PA — Polls are closed across Montgomery County, and votes are beginning to be tallied in the 146th legislative district race between incumbent Democrat Joe Ciresi and challenging Republican Michael McCloskey.

Check back with Patch throughout the evening for live results as they become available.

For full coverage of the election in Pennsylvania, go here.

Ciresi, 54, has been in office since 2019. Prior to that, he served on the Spring-Ford school board from 2003 to 2017.

McCloskey, a Limerick Township Supervisor, spent ten years on the Limerick Township Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Board.

The district

Limerick, Perkiomen Township, Lower Pottsgrove, Royersford, Trappe, and most of Pottstown are contained in the 146th.

It has a population of 64,098 residents, according to Ballotpedia.

Past results

For 47 of the 49 years years leading up to 2019, Republicans controlled the 146th, as they did much of the area.

Then, during the 2018 primaries, Rep. Ciresi came into office as part of a historic blue wave that saw several long-red districts in Montgomery and Chester counties turn to Democrats.

Ciresi won a close election back in 2018 by about 3,000 votes, but it hasn't been particularly close since then. He's extended his margin of victory in both terms, winning by around 5,000 votes in 2020, then by about 7,000 in 2022.

All of the below long GOP-held districts, flipped to Democrats in 2018, remain blue:

• Maria Collett, State Senate 12th District (Republican for 71 years until 2018, since District's inception in 1947)
• Steve Malagari,State Rep. 53rd District (Republican for 45 years until 2018, since modern formation in 1973)
• Liz Hanbridge, State Rep. 61st District (Republican for 49 years until 2018, since inception in 1969)
• Joe Ciresi, State Rep. 146th District (Republican for 47 of the 49 years before 2018)
• Joe Webster, State Rep. 150th District (Republican for 47 of the 49 years before 2018)
• Danielle Friel Otten, State Rep. 155th District (Republican for 28 years, from 1990 to 2018)
• Melissa Shusterman, State Rep. 157th District (Republican for 47 of the 49 years before 2018)