Presidential Election Results: West Chester Voted Biden, Blue

WEST CHESTER, PA —Tuesday's vote capped a heated battle for control of the White House, unfolding during a pandemic that killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans before Election Day.

On Saturday, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other news organizations announced Biden had won Pennsylvania and the presidency. President Donald Trump has not conceded as of Monday.

West Chester precincts all overwhelmingly chose Biden over Trump, and in most Biden had twice as many votes as Trump. Biden took 70-75 percent of votes in West Chester's precincts, with most precincts showing Trump with vote counts of 25-30 percent.

As more than 98 percent of Pennsylvania's vote is in, President Trump had 45,727 fewer votes than Biden statewide, though Trump statewide made a gain of 0.3 percent over his 2016 numbers.

That one-third of 1 percent gain for Trump was outpaced by the Democratic increase. Biden's 49.8 percent of the Pennsylvania vote represented a 2.2 percent increase over votes cast in 2016 for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who received 47.6 percent of PA's 2016 vote.

In 2016, Trump had 48.8 percent of Pennsylvania's vote, compared to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 47.6 percent.

On the Monday after Election Day 2020, with more than 98 percent of Pennsylvania's votes counted, Trump had 49.1 percent of our swing-state's votes, and despite that increase over his 2016 take, Biden had 49.8 percent of Pennsylvania's votes.

To see 2016 votes by county, view this NYT interactive map.

Though Biden was declared winner of the presidential race over the weekend, Republicans continued to insist the race is not over.

Yet the margin for Democrats was much wider in Chester County, where Biden won by 17 percentage points. In 2016, Clinton won in Chester County, but by 9 percentage points.

Pennsylvania's official state report for 2020 said today Biden has 57.87 percent of Chester County's vote, and Trump has 40.99 percent.

West Chester's precincts all favored Biden, with percentages well over 70 percent. West Chester's Precinct voted 77.19 percent for Biden, and 21.71 for Trump. Only one West Chester precinct gave Trump more than 25 percent of the vote.

In 2016, Trump lost to Clinton in Chester County; Clinton had 52.6 percent of the vote here and Trump took 43.3 percent.

Former President Barack Obama won Pennsylvania by 5.4 percentage points in 2012.
Chester County Democrats reported Monday the party nationwide took 74 million votes — and counting — 3.4 million in Pennsylvania and 179,000 in Chester County. The voter turnout rate for Chester County was nearly 82 percent.

"Let us all exhale and take a moment to celebrate. What a relief! The outpouring of joy as people poured into the streets in towns and cities across the country was amazing," said Chester County Democratic Party Chair Dick Bingham.

As the Republican Party's massive voter registration campaign across Pennsylvania signed up far more voters than Democrats, Chester County was among a handful of PA counties where the opposite was true.

"In Chester County, we started 2020 in a strong position and have gotten even stronger as the year has progressed. It was only in May that we finally had more registered Democrats than Republicans! While we did not win every race, I am particularly grateful to all our extraordinary candidates and their teams. They have all made us proud," said Bingham.

Bingham said there are a few more votes to be counted including provisional ballots, which are ballots that require additional verification to assure their validity. There also remain to be counted ballots from military and overseas personnel.

The Republican Party saw two Chester County victories; Richard Ruggieri in the 13th Legislative District and Paul Friel in the 26th Legislative District, according to Bingham's report.

Three women on the ballot in West Chester won their offices, the Democratic Party of Chester County announced Monday. Carolyn Comitta (D-19) will fill Sen. Andy Dinniman's state senate seat in Pennsylvania's 19th Senate District. Comitta garnered 57 percent of the vote, compared to Republican Kevin Runey's 42 percent.

West Chester precincts all chose Comitta with percentages outpacing Runey by nearly 50 percentage points in many precincts. Comitta took over 70 percent of the vote in most of West Chester, and Runey took between 24 and 30 percent across precincts there.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-6th) won over John Emmons by a wide margin, 56 to 43 percent. West Chester precincts all voted for Houlahan. Precinct counts fell much higher in West Chester, where Houlahan got between 69 and 78 percent of the borough's vote.

Dianne Herrin (D-156th) won the Statehouse seat vacated by Comitta. Herrin has been mayor of West Chester. She defeated Republican Len Iacono for the state representative seat, with 55 percent of the statewide vote over Iacono's 44 percent. Herrin's lead in Westtown and Goshen precincts was not as solid; two Westtown precincts chose Iacono as did three East Goshen precincts. But West Chester precincts all delivered lead of 40-50 percentage points for Herrin over her opponent, giving her more than 70 percent of West Chester's vote in all but one precinct, and in that one, she had 69.51 percent.

The Democratic Party claimed victories Monday for five incumbent State Representatives, and one new addition. They are:

• Dan Williams (D-74th)
• Danielle Friel Otten (D-155th)
• Melissa Shusterman (D-157th )
• Chris Sappey (D-158th)
• Kristine Howard (D-167th)
• Dianne Herrin joins five incumbent Democratic State Representatives by successfully retaining the seat vacated by Carolyn Comitta in the 156th State Legislative District.

Two races that represent parts of Chester County are close enough that the provisional ballot count could make yet make a difference.

In the 160th House District, which straddles Chester and Delaware Counties, Anton Andrew is trailing by 596 votes as the final provisional and military/overseas ballots are counted.

Also very close is the PA Senate 9th District race, where Democrat John Kane leads Republican Thomas Killion by less than one percentage point. Kane is ahead by 468 votes on Monday as the remaining provisional ballots come in.

Chester County's election results can be viewed here. To find your own precinct's exact results, choose Precinct Results. West Chester's precinct numbers are in the 800's.

Trump had struggled to overcome polling deficits in key states in the campaign's final days. He ran strong as expected in rural areas, but lost support among other critical voting groups, including suburban women in several battleground states.

CNN reported in October that polling put former Vice President Joe Biden up by 25 points among women voters. According to the final 2016 pre-election polls, Clinton won women voters by 13 points among likely voters and 14 points among registered voters.