With 34 Senate seats and all House seats up for grabs, along with many governorships and state elected positions, officials braced for tensions and problems at the polls.  Voter turnout was reported to be heavy throughout Pennsylvania.  Except for a few glitches, no major issues were reported.

            Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman reported that Pennsylvania achieved a relatively incident-free midterm election and thanked county election officials and poll workers for their tireless service. 

            Pennsylvania voters requested more than 1.4 million mail-in and absentee ballots in this election, and as of noon on Election Day, the counties had reported about 1.15 million, or approximately 83 percent of those ballots, were voted and returned. To count, mail ballots must have been received by counties by 8 p.m. 

            Chapman noted that it will take a few days for unofficial returns to be completed. As counties provide the Department of State with real-time updates of their vote counts, that information will be posted online at electionreturns.pa.gov.?Unofficial results are due from the counties by 5 p.m. Nov. 15. 

            As we all wait for the final tallies to be completed some races have been called based on preliminary results.

            With a comfortable lead in the voting results so far, it looks like PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro will be the next governor of Pennsylvania, besting Republican candidate state representative Doug Mastriano.  Early returns show the former Montgomery County commissioner leading his Republican opponent by more than 500,000 votes.

            It will be the first time a Democrat has won back-to-back elections for Governor since the 1950s.

            Democrat John Fetterman looks to be heading to Washington, D.C. as a U.S. Senator after topping Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.  The race was for the seat vacated by Republican Pat Toomey who announced that he would be retiring at the end of his current term.  Preliminary results have Fetterman collecting nearly 200,000 more votes than Oz.

            The 1st Congressional District race has incumbent Republican Candidate Brian Fitzpatrick leading Democratic candidate Ashley Ehasz by more than 30,000 votes.  The 1st Congressional District includes all of Bucks County and parts of Montgomery County.

            In the race for the 4th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean appears to be on the road to re-election besting Republican challenger Christian Nascimento by more than 75,000 votes in the early totals. 

            The District includes parts of Montgomery County and central, eastern, and northeastern parts of Berks County.  Nascimento collected about 6,000 more votes in Berks County but Dean is topping her opponent by more than 80,000 votes in Montgomery County.

            In the 7th Congressional District, which includes all of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northhampton Counties and parts of Monroe County, incumbent Democratic Rep. Susan Wild is holding a slight lead over Republican Lisa Scheller.

            In the race to replace retiring State Senator Bob Mensch, Republican candidate State Representative Tracy Pennycuick is holding a lead over Democrat Jill Denninleads in the race to represent the 24th Senatorial District.

            The 24th Senatorial District includes parts of Montgomery and Berks County.  Early results show Pennycuick receiving 5,000 votes more than Dennin in Montgomery County.  In Berks County, Dennin received about 500 votes more than Pennycuick.

            Democratic incumbent state senator Sen. Katie Muth is holding a 5,000 vote lead over Republican challenger Jessica Florio in the race for the 44th Senatorial District.

            The district includes parts of Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties.

            The race for Representative in the State Legislature for the 70th District shows incumbent Democrat candidate Matthew Bradford leading Republican challenger Arthur Bustard by more than 8,000 votes.  The District includes parts of Montgomery County.

            Incumbent Republican candidate Milou Mackenzie appears to be the winner against Democratic candidate Kevin Branco in the contest for State Representative in the 131st Legislative District.  Mackenzie is holding a nearly 5,000 vote lead over Branco.

            In the race for State Representative in the 145th District, incumbent Republican Craig Staats is holding a lead of more than 5,000 votes over Democrat challenger Jim Miller.  The District includes Bridgeton, Durham, East Rockhill, Haycock, Milford, Nockamixon, Quakertown, Richland, Richlandtown, Riegelsville, Springfield, West Rockhill, and parts of Telford.

            Voting results may not include all mail-in and provisional ballots and are unofficial until certified.