Voting by the Numbers

Candidate surprised by voter turnout, party leanings

Despite possessing more registered Democrats than registered Republicans, Greene County, once again, showed overwhelming support for Republican candidates in the 2018 Midterm Elections. 

“People are still trying to figure out where things went wrong,” said James Craig, the Democratic candidate for State Senate, who lost Tuesday’s election to incumbent Republican Camera Bartolotta. 

Craig said that based on voter registration within the counties in his district, his team projected that with 35,000 votes, he could take the election. Craig received well over that number, but still lost the race. Bartolotta was unavailable to comment after the race. 

In places like Greene County, where, according to Pennsylvania voting statistics, the number of registered Democrats outnumbers Republicans 11,334 to 8,412, the high turnout for Republican voters seems unexpected. Local party committees have reflected upon this phenomenon in the past: Greg Hopkins, chair of the Republican Committee of Greene County said voter registration does not accurately represent the county’s conservative values. 

Craig believes the disconnect occurs because rural Democrats like those in Southwestern Pennsylvania don’t fully identify with the party nationally, and are left behind as a result. 

“The problem is that in Pennsylvania, it seems like the top of the ballot sets the messaging and the agenda,” said Craig. “Unfortunately, the messaging that Democrats are running on are antithetical to the opinion working upon blue-collar workers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Democratic party has taken a dramatic shift to the left.” 

Craig, who came under scrutiny earlier in the election cycle for forgeries found on his ballot petition, doesn’t think the scandal had much to do with his loss. He thinks it’s indicative of a failure of the party to invest in “down-ballot” races, resulting in a higher-than-expected Republican voter turnout. 

And he is not alone. Overwhelmingly, Republican candidates dominated Greene County, even if they did not take the entire state. The one Democratic candidate who did win the county was Pam Snyder, the incumbant state representative who identifies as a conservative Democrat. 

As of right now, Craig said he has no immediate plans to try running for office again. He thinks he can better affect positive change this way. 

“I’ve realized that oftentimes the best way to do that is not being elected,” he said. “You spend so much money on a campaign and end up being owned by people who pay for your race.”