The Pennsylvania primary action continues!
Results: AP | PA SoS
7:07 PM PT: So, just a basic recap of the races that seem pretty much resolved (with 59% reporting statewide):
PA-Sen (R): Tom Smith 44, Sam Rohrer 21, Steve Welch 18, David Christian 9, Marc Scaringi 8
PA-AG (D): Kathleen Kane 56, Patrick Murphy 44
PA-04 (R): Scott Perry 54, Chris Reilly 19, Sean Summers 14
PA-15 (D): Rick Daugherty 59, Jackson Eaton 41
PA-18 (R): Tim Murphy 64, Evan Feinberg 36
7:08 PM PT: Hmm, at the legislative level, this seems interesting: state House majority leader Sam Smith has lost his GOP primary, in HD-66, by only 107 votes.
7:10 PM PT: In PA-17, it's still Cartwright 55, Holden 45. Holden is crushing in the coal-country portions of the district (and the parts that he used to represent), Schuykill and Carbon Counties, but getting blown out elsewhere.
7:13 PM PT: So, the main drama left seems to be PA-12. It's now Critz 55, Altmire 45. Can Critz pull this out? A big report from rural Somerset Co. (south of Johnstown) went Critz's way, as he won 87-12 there. There are also some Beaver Co. reports, which as expected was good for Altmire. Westmoreland Co. seems to be the slowest to report, and, as I've said before, that'll be the decisive one. Right now, Altmire leads in Westmoreland only 51-49.
7:15 PM PT: No surprise here: the AP has called the PA-Sen R primary for Tom Smith. He moves on to get flattened by Bob Casey Jr. in November.
7:20 PM PT: Holy crap! There are reports, via Twitter, that Jason Altmire has just conceded. Guess I wasn't the only one starting to wonder how he'd eke it out. Congratulations to Mark Critz, who advances to face Republican Keith Rothfus in the general. (Congratulations to labor, too, who went all out to boost Critz.)
7:20 PM PT: The AP has called PA-17 for Matt Cartwright, who dispatched the previously indestructible Tim Holden. (Apparently he's indestructible only to Republicans.)
7:25 PM PT: It goes without saying (well, I guess I'm saying it anyway) that with the losses of Jason Altmire and Tim Holden, that's two fewer Blue Dogs in the Democratic caucus next year. (Not that Critz is a raging liberal, but in both primaries, PA-12 and PA-17, the more labor-friendly candidate won.)
7:27 PM PT: Actually, I'm reminded that Holden was running with the AFL-CIO's backing in PA-17, so that labor-friendly statement is a mixed bag. Cartwright was generally positioned to Holden's left, though.
7:26 PM PT (Steve Singiser): In addition to all the primary action, we also had a set of six special legislative elections in the Pennsylvania state House. Democrats are on track to pick up a seat tonight: in HD-169, former state deputy Labor secretary Ed Neilson holds a 56-44 lead over former legislative aide David Kralle. Everything else thus far is a hold for the incumbent party. That said, there is an amazing quirky outcome about to happen. Democrat Martin Schmotzer is about to hold LD-22 for the blue team. He leads GOPer Chris Cratsley by a 59-41 margin. But the celebration for Schmotzer is short-lived, as he is also about to lose the Democratic primary for the regular term. Erin Molchany has a 52-39 lead over Schmotzer.
7:33 PM PT: It's mostly academic at this point, but with 78% reporting statewide, that Mark Critz lead is still basically holding, at 54-46. Westmoreland County is going very slightly for Altmire at 52-48, and Altmire cleaned up in his counties, at around 70% in Allegheny, Beaver, and Lawrence Counties. But Critz cleaned up even more in his counties, getting 90% in Cambria and Somerset. That edge in the Johnstown area is basically the tale of the tape.
7:35 PM PT: Here's a helpful stat from Dave Wasserman that underscores what I was just talking about: Critz's old portion of PA-12 is only 27% of the voters in the new 12th, but it accounted for 40% of the turnout tonight. That's some pretty amazing home-turf GOTV.
7:41 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Business might be picking up in that Democratic primary for Attorney General, where Patrick Murphy still trails Kathleen Kane, but the margin has shrunk noticeably. The lead for Kane is down to six points, and Murphy strongholds like Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery counties still have loads of precincts to report. A cursory glance hints that it might be a little too little and a little too late, but the jury is still out—AP has yet to make a call on this race.
7:45 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Apparently, I am a jinx for Patrick Murphy. No sooner did I post that, then the AP called the race for Kane.
7:49 PM PT: Murphy's closing is too little too late... the AP has called the AG primary for Kathleen Kane, which unfortunately cuts short Patrick Murphy's comeback bid. (Wonder if he's regretting not trying to take back PA-08 instead?) The AP has also called PA-12 for Mark Critz, although the Altmire concession made that pretty clear already.
With that, all the tight races seem to have come to a close in the Pennsylvania primary, and we're calling it a night at Daily Kos Elections.