Democratic write-in candidate Emilio Vazquez wins special election
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Source: Philadelphia Magazine
Democratic write-in candidate Emilio Vázquez has won Tuesdays special election to fill a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, according to unofficial numbers released today.
The election, held in North Phillys 197th District, garnered widespread controversy earlier this week following complaints including from Green Party write-in candidate Cheri Honkala and Republican Lucinda Little, the sole candidate on the ballot of illegal voter assistance and other questionable poll activities.
Commissioner Al Schmidt said the unofficial write-in count, tallied this morning, put Vázquez at 1,970 votes and Honkala at 282 votes. According to unofficial numbers released earlier this week, Little received less than 8 percent of votes. Voter turnout was about 5%.
The voters of the 197th have spoken and they have decisively chosen hope over the politics of division and fear, Vázquez said in a statement. In these troubling times for our country and our Commonwealth, it is important that people see they can still stand up and be counted. It is now time that we turn the page and come together. I look forward to being sworn in and representing the people of the 197th in Harrisburg, where I will join the fight to fully fund our schools, create good jobs, and raise the minimum wage.
Read more: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/03/24/democrat-emilio-vazquez-special-election/
= new reply since forum marked as read
We need more Dem wins in these down ballot races.
I had heard about this special election a couple weeks ago and then last week about the fact that the original replacement Democratic nominee had been ruled ineligible due to lack of residency in the district. That left Democrats scrambling to find another replacement and even when found, his (Vazquez's) name never made it on the official ballot so he had to be a write-in.
THIS is where states like mine (PA) NEED some serious help due to a lack of veracity and focus from state/local party officials. I.e., there is too much intra-party, generational "politics" that continues to happen - in this case, apparently at the Ward leader level. We could not afford to have lost that state House seat due to idiocy like this.
(as a note, the previous rep. (D) for this district resigned after pleading guilty, along with her mother, to embezzlement/money-laundering. Her father had been the rep for that district in the past. 
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