Fifteen days have passed since November 9. The red wave turned out to be a ripple on the national level. Just as the GOP barely gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democrats barely gained control of the PA state house for the first time since 2010. The Democrats gained a net of 14 seats to to take the state house 102-101. I thought I would take some Thanksgiving reflections on the Election in Cambria County.
One local race that was pivotal for control of the House was the PA House 22 race between incumbent Frank Burns and Renae Billow. Apparently, Burns attacks on Billow for her finances and her funders support of bringing Afghan refugees to the area worked because he won 54.5% to 45.5%.
The above map shows the precinct breakdown for the 58 precincts in the Burns-Billow race. Billow won 13 of the 58 precincts. Inside Johnstown, she won 2 of the 17 precincts. Specifically, she won the 17th ward #4 (Moxham) and the 21st ward in Johnstown.
Above is the Cambria precinct map for the Fetterman-Oz U.S. Senate race. Overall, Oz won the county 63.6%-33.2% while Fetterman won the state 51.2%-46.3%. Of the 125 precincts in the county, Fetterman won 13. Twelve of these precincts were in the City of Johnstown and the other was Franklin Borough. Fetterman won the 17 Johnstown precincts by a margin of 366 votes.
Thanksgiving reflections on the Election in Cambria County will now look more into the past. Two years ago I looked at the 17 precincts in Johnstown for the 2024 Presidential election. Joe Biden won the city by 80 votes that year. He won 7 of the 17 precincts in the city while losing the county 68.1%-30.8%. Could this be an indication of political realignment in Johnstown?