Tina Davis concedes her Senate race, but challenges to Pa. election policy live on

The race between Davis and incumbent Republican Tommy Tomlinson got more than 108,000 votes overall, but the margin was ultimately just 74.

• Katie Meyer
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

 Katie Meyer/WITF

Bucks County election workers count provisional ballots cast in the race between Tommy Tomlinson and Tina Davis. Lawyers for both candidates look on.

(Harrisburg) — Three weeks after the midterm election, Pennsylvania’s last undecided race is over.

Democrat Tina Davis conceded her bid for the 6^th state Senate district Tuesday, after unsuccessfully suing to have late-filed absentee ballots counted.

The race between Davis and incumbent Republican Tommy Tomlinson got more than 108,000 votes overall, but the margin was ultimately just 74.

216 absentee ballots weren’t counted because they arrived at the election office too late. Voters need to return them the Friday before Election Day, though they can request ballots up to just three days before that.

The Davis campaign filed a lawsuit arguing the turnaround is too tight, and those ballots should be counted. On Monday, a Bucks County Common Pleas judge ruled against it.

But though Davis’s case–and race–are over, the issue is still pending elsewhere.

The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a similar suit in Commonwealth Court this month. It’s on a longer timeline, and the group’s lawyers say they hope it helps reform what they see as an unusually-restrictive election policy.

That’s not the only way the elections code might eventually change. In her concession letter, Davis said she hopes to work on reforms when she returns to her position as a state representative.

A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.

Learn More