Democrats Win Big In Montco Commissioners Race; GOP Seat Too Close To Call

NORRISTOWN, PA — Democrats have won huge victories on a changing Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, as the battle for the Republican seat remained too close to call late Tuesday night.

Lone incumbent, Democrat Jamila Winder, had 127,611 votes with 323 of 426 precincts reporting. Fellow Democrat, lawyer, and Penn professor of politics Neil Makhija had 120,440.

The pair will form two-thirds of the new board, which will be filled out by either Limerick Township Supervisor Tom DiBello and Upper Dublin Commissioner Liz Ferry. The two Republicans, picked by the GOP establishment to beat longtime Commissioner Joe Gale, were separated by just a thousand votes as the clock approached midnight.

Earlier updates:

10:54 p.m.

DiBello's lead over Ferry has grown to more than a thousand, with 323 of 426 precincts (roughly three fourths) now reporting.

Winder: 127,611
Makhija: 120,440
Ferry: 64,408
DiBello: 65,931

10:25 p.m.

DiBello has significantly widened his margin over Ferry to nearly 700 votes, as 198 of the county's 426 precincts have reported.

Winder: 99,807
Makhija: 94,674
Ferry: 36,423
DiBello: 37,102

10:17 p.m.

While there are plenty of returns still to tabulate, Democrats are leading by a larger margin than they won by in the last county commissioner election in 2019. Former commissioners Val Arkoosh and Ken Lawrence won about 32 percent of the vote, while Winder and Makhija have about 37 percent.

9:57 p.m.

With 87 of 426 precincts reporting, DiBello has snuck ahead of Ferry for the Republican seat on the board. Just 108 votes separate the two GOP establishment picks, who ran a coordinated campaign together after ousting longtime Commissioner Joe Gale in the primary.

Winder: 75,309
Makhija: 71,726
Ferry: 24,432
DiBello: 24,540

9:35 p.m.

A large swath of in-person ballots have been counted, and county officials say that 37 precincts are now reporting. That includes 13,202 ballots, on top of the 71,790 mail-ins already counted. The Democrats extended their lead, while Ferry's few-hundred vote gap over DiBello narrowed.

Winder: 64,617
Makhija: 61,862
Ferry: 16,711
DiBello: 16,348

9:15 p.m.

In-person ballots are now being tabulated, as 2 of the county's 426 precincts have now reported in. In addition, 71,790 of the county's 73,277 ballots have been counted, according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections. The latest tallies:

Winder: 57,617
Makhija: 55,634
Ferry: 12,217
DiBello: 11,573

8:47 p.m.

The first mail-in ballots have been counted, and Upper Dublin Commissioner Liz Ferry has the upper hand on the Republican seat. A total of 31,457 of the county's 73,277 mail-in ballots have been counted thus far.

Winder: 25,016
Makhija: 24,192
Ferry: 5,629
DiBello: 4,912

8:39 p.m.

Winder and Makhija got an Election Day bump from Gov. Josh Shapiro, who spent the morning voting in Montgomery County and speaking on behalf of the local Democrats. Shapiro, whose career began as a Montgomery County Commissioner, appeared at the Jenkintown SEPTA station with the pair. "If you want to make sure you've got good, competent leadership at home, vote for the Democratic ticket," Shapiro said.

8:34 p.m.

Early returns should be out momentarily.

"Ballots cast in-person are not counted until they are delivered to the Voter Services Office in Norristown after polls close at 8 p.m.," the Montgomery County Board of Elections shared. "Ballots are received from polling locations throughout the County."

8:20 p.m.

Polls have closed, and ballots are being tabulated. No early results are yet available.

Original story

Results are now trickling in for a race that will change the face of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

The three person board has only one incumbent running in Democrat Jamila Winder.

Winds of change came with Gov. Josh Shapiro's appointment of former chair Val Arkoosh to secretary of the state Department of Human Services. Arkoosh was replaced by a temporary appointment for 2023, Jamila Winder, the former chair of the East Norriton Township Board of Supervisors.

And shortly thereafter, the board's other long-serving Democrat, Ken Lawrence, announced his retirement.

Winder has Lawrence's endorsement, and she's accompanied by newcomer, lawyer, and Penn professor of politics Neil Makhija.

Meanwhile on the Republican side, Joe Gale, the MAGA-style Republican who has been as vociferous in his frustrations with his county GOP establishment as with those on the left, will not appear on the general election ballot for the first time in six years. He was finally defeated by a party establishment that had rejected him from the beginning of his career back during this spring's primaries.

Candidates backed by the party, Limerick Township Supervisor Tom DiBello and Upper Dublin Commissioner Liz Ferry, won convincingly. DiBello had 31,006 votes, Ferry 28,657, and Gale 21,076.

DiBello and Ferry face an uphill battle to both get on the board. While the board is always comprised of two from one party and one from another, heavily blue Montgomery County is almost sure to vote for two Democrats. But both the party and the new Republican commissioner hopefuls said they were excited to work on a united ticket.

Voters on Tuesday chose three Board members, with two coming from one party and one from another party. The Board has consisted of two Democrats and one Republican for years, and that trend is all but guaranteed to continue in one of the most liberal counties in the state.