Voters turned out in force for Tuesday's primary election, thanks, in part, to a hotly contested presidential race on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.  A whopping 44 percent of registered voters in Montgomery County cast their ballots this week compared to a dismal 16 percent in the presidential primary election of May 2012. 

        In Montgomery County, in the race for presidential candidate, voters were split based on municipality. For the Democrats, Bernie Sanders won the majority of votes over Hillary Clinton in Douglass (Montco) (438-409), East Greenville (169-94), Green Lane (32-18), Marlborough Township (197-160), Pennsburg (160-132), Red Hill (156-129) and Upper Salford Township (168-139).  Clinton came out on top in Lower Salford Township (935-720), New Hanover Township (555-544) and Upper Hanover Township (332-331).

        In Milford Township, Clinton edged Sanders by 91 votes. Sanders – a senator from Vermont – won Quakertown by 77 votes (512-435) and Trumbauersville, by 13 votes (57-44)

        On the Republican ticket, Donald Trump easily topped Ted Cruz and John Kasich, respectively, in all municipalities:  Douglass (Montco) (932-383-314), East Greenville (141-79-42), Green Lane (47-22-15), Lower Salford Township (1,284-703-683), Marlborough Township (386-138-85), New Hanover Township (1,029-395-368), Pennsburg (201-97-51), Red Hill (179-89-51), Upper Hanover Township (738-285-254), and Upper Salford Township (386-190-151).

        Trump dominated the polls in Milford Township, Quakertown and Trumbauersville. He also swept the Berks County communities of Washington and Hereford townships, as well as Bally. Cruz, a senator from Texas, finished second in all three municipalities.

        The race for US senator wasn't a close call locally on the Democratic ticket, where Katie McGinty easily topped Joe Sestak with John Fetterman coming in third. McGinty – who will face incumbent Republican Pat Toomey in the fall – won out over Sestak in Douglass, Green Lane, Lower Salford, New Hanover, Pennsburg, Red Hill, Upper Hanover and Upper Salford.  Sestak edged McGinty in East Greenville and Marlborough.  On the Republican side, Toomey ran unopposed.

        Sestak and McGinty each received 47 votes in Bally Borough, according to information posted on the Berks County website.

        In the area, the Democratic nod in the race for attorney general went overwhelmingly to Montgomery County commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro with Stephen Zappala Jr. coming in second and John Morganelli in third.  On the Republican side, John Rafferty topped Joe Peters handily for the nomination.

        Shapiro collected the most Democratic votes in Bally as well as Hereford and Washington townships in Berks County. Rafferty swept all three communities similarly.

        In Quakertown, Shapiro collected 544 votes, more than twice as many as Morganelli, who finished second. The Montgomery County commissioner defeated Morganelli by a similar amount in Milford Township (601-237).

        The race for auditor general will proceed in November with Eugene Depasquale on the Democratic ticket and John Brown on the Republican ticket.  Democrat Joe Torsella will also face Otto Voit in the race for state treasurer.  Those candidates all ran opposed for the two positions.

        In the 8th U.S. House District race, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick will face Steve Santarsiero, a Democratic state representative, in the General Election.

        Fitzpatrick easily defeated two challengers in the Montgomery County portion of the district, which includes Upper Hanover, Marlborough, Salford, Upper Salford, Lower Frederick and Upper Frederick.

        On the Democratic side, Shaughnessy Naughton collected 900 more votes in Montgomery County then Santarsiero.

        In the 6th U.S. House District race – which includes East Greenville, Pennsburg and Red Hill boroughs as well as Douglass and New Hanover townships – incumbent Republican Ryan Costello and Democrat Mike Parrish both ran unopposed. The two will face off in the fall.

        In the 131st state House district, incumbent Republican Justin Simmons has declared victory over challenger Bill Coyle.

        Simmons received 1,425 votes in the district's four Montgomery county municipalities, according to results posted on the county's website. Coyle got 419 votes.

        State Rep. Marcy Toepel, R-147th, ran unopposed in her party's primary. She will take on Democrat Rachel Hendricks in the fall.

        In Lehigh County, Hillary Clinton won out on the Democratic ticket over Bernie Sanders in Lower Milford and Upper Milford townships (west), 199-175 and 221-168, respectively.  On the Republican ticket there, voters opted for Donald Trump over Ted Cruz and John Kasich, 394-262-132 in Lower Milford and 367-204-138 in Upper Milford (west). 

        As was the case across most of the state, Katie McGinty won out over Joe Sestak for the Democratic nod for US senator, 43-41 percent in Lehigh County. 

        Rick Daugherty and Charlie Dent will move onto the Democratic and Republican tickets for the general election for 15th district of the US Congress.  Both positions were uncontested.

        All voting results were unofficial as of press time.