Candidates project confidence as they wait for York County results

Republican candidates and officials were confident as the polls closed Tuesday and York County waited for results of the 2022 general election.

York County GOP chair John O'Neill said he'd seen heavy turnout at the polls for the midterm election.

"I feel good. Our focus was voter turnout, and it looks like we turned out quite a few voters in the election, and that was of course the most important thing to do," O'Neill said at an election night watch party at Wisehaven Event Center in York Township.

As of 11 p.m. on election night, York County had reported 113/161 precincts as well as all mail-in ballots. Turnout at that time was 40% and the total ballots cast were 124,757, indicating that York County had a strong turnout during a consequential election.

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The Republican watch party also drew attendance from a number of candidates and officials, including U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, running for reelection in the 11th District. He said he'd visited approximately 12 precincts in York County and that the primary theme from voters was rising prices.

"I think it's going to be a really strong turnout for Republican candidates," Smucker said before leaving for Lancaster County. "We haven't seen results yet but feel very, very good about where we are."

Smucker had more than 66% of the votes to his Democratic opponent Bob Hollister's 33% with 70% of precincts in the district reporting at 11:15 p.m.

York County's Chief Clerk Greg Monskie said they anticipated York County's count to be complete by midnight.

"Haven't had any hiccups that we haven't been prepared for," Monskie said at approximately 5 p.m.

At a watch party for her race at Primanti Bros. in York, 28th Senate District Democratic candidate Judith McCormick-Higgins was confident before polls closed.

"The number of comments from people I've had over the last four or five months have been very positive, and I've got both Republicans and independents both coming up and saying 'You sound sane, I could vote for you.,'" McCormick-Higgins said. "It's one of those where I go 'Now what do I say? Thank you?'"

Her opponent, incumbent Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, was also confident.

"The response at the polls today was very positive for our Republican candidates," Phillips-Hill said. As of 10:30 p.m., she was leading McCormick-Higgins 37,519 to 23,892 with 50.98% of precincts reporting.

Another candidate at Wisehaven was incumbent Rep. Scott Perry, running for reelection in the 10th Congressional District against Democrat Shamaine Daniels.

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"You know our country's in trouble, and you can see by the crowd here tonight that you're not the only one who recognizes that," Perry told a large crowd at the Republican watch party. "We do elect people to go and represent us. But we can't count on them alone to do the job, it takes each one of us.

"And what you're looking at is the beginning of that kind of revival of the spirit across the county, across your communities, across our country to do what's right, do what makes some common sense."

As of 11:15 p.m. on Election Night, Perry held a narrow lead in the district, 116,699 to Daniels' 114,462, with 65% of precincts reporting.

Even as election results roll in, it's important to note that the results still need to be certified, and there could still be recounts.

— Reach Matt Enright via email at menright@yorkdispatch.com or via Twitter at @Matthew_Enright.