Erie County Votes Red: Unofficial 2020 Election results from the pivotal NWPA city

ERIE — As election results are slow to be officiated across the nation, Erie County voters appear to have gone red in all contested races.

For the presidential race, unofficial tallies showed Erie County voters giving early favor to President Donald J. Trump over former Vice President Joe Biden. Of the 99,831 votes counted for the presidential race thus far, Trump’s numbers outweighed Biden’s by 56,471 to 41,888.

Additionally, incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th District, appeared on course to win — defeating Democratic challenger Kristy Gnibus by 54,922 to 42,523 — unofficial tallies showed.

Should Kelly remain on the projected course, his win is credited to a massive Election Day turn out. Gnibus led by nearly 9,000 votes cast via mail-in and absentee ballots, but it appears that, ultimately, Kelly was able to retain his position in the 16th Congressional District when more than 52,000 Erie County voters cast ballots on Nov. 3 in support of the five-term Republican. 

In the race for the 49th state Senate District, Democrat Julie Slomski appeared to see similar results. 

After taking a lead of just over 5,000 votes cast by mail-in or absentee voters, incumbent Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin pulled through with a massive Election Day push that allowed him to win another term by 26,379 Erie County votes.

What may ultimately be another win for Republicans is the race for state Rep. in the 3rd Legislative District. Early totals appear to have Republican write-in candidate Greg Hayes in the lead over incumbent Ryan Bizzaro, D-Erie, by a mere 903 votes cast on Election Day. 

In the 6th Legislative District, Rep. Brad Roae leads in unofficial tallies by a slightly larger margin, surpassing Democratic candidate Matt Ferrence by just under 3,000 votes. 

Mail-in and absentee ballot totals are still being tabulated in Erie County. 

Official election results for Erie County have thus far provided mail-in numbers for all 2020 election races aside from that for the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 17th Legislative Districts. 

This said, it is crucial to keep in mind that numbers may change in the coming days. 

In the days preceding the election, Erie County found itself (and its 202,689 registered voters) in the national spotlight as a potential battleground for the presidential election. Both party candidates took special interest in the rust belt city and visited the rural county personally during the final days of campaigning. 

Ultimately, the NWPA general election saw a voter turnout of just under 50 percent for a total of 100,437 ballots cast either via in-person Election Day votes, mail-in and absentee ballots. As of 12 a.m. Nov. 4, no provisional vote totals had been reported in Erie County.