44th Senatorial District Election: State Sen. Katie Muth Vs. Melissa Dicranian [Live Results]

Updates, 9:06 p.m.

Early mail-in results are in for the 44th, with Muth holding a commanding early lead.

• Muth: 5,780
• Dicraniain: 1,499

8:24 p.m. Election authorities have not yet published the results of any precincts in the 44th district, leaving residents waiting.

Original story

Polls are closed in Pennsylvania and results are starting to come in for Pennsylvania 44th senatorial district, where multi-term incumbent State Sen. Katie Muth is challenged by Republican Melissa Dicranian.

Muth is heavily favored to retain her seat, as the district has only grown more blue in recent years and Muth herself has seen an explosion in popularity due to her leadership in standing against unwanted data center development.

Live results will be posted here as they come in to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

Check back to Patch throughout the evening for the latest updated totals.

The 44th covers many of the communities along the Schuylkill River straddling Chester and Montgomery counties.

Ever since Muth unseated long-tenured Republican State Sen. John C. Rafferty Jr. in 2018, her hold on her seat has only strengthened.

She beat Rafferty by around 5,000 votes that year. In 2022, her last reelection cycle, she defeated Jessica Florio by nearly three times as much, 70,790 to 56,343.

Some of that is reflection of the changing demographics of the region, which has tilted to the left along with other parts of Chester and Montgomery counties over the past decade.

It's also a credit to Muth's own popularity. Her defiance of Gov. Shapiro's "fast tracking" of data centers earned her friends across the political spectrum, and made her unlikely allies with Republican leaders who supported, in some form, her calls for a moratorium on data center development in the state.

Some 74 percent of Pennsylvanians oppose data center construction, and 84 percent show no support, according to the latest Quinnipiac University polling.

The past year has led to a coordinated "write in Katie Muth for governor" campaign as a statement against both Shapiro and his opponent, Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

Dicranian has offered her extensive small business experience, both her own and her family's, as evidence of fiscal responsibility and smart budgeting.

Her campaign has focused on lower taxes leading to economic growth, increasing affordable energy options within the state, and reducing government intervention in business.

She's repeatedly cited the state's economy ranking a dismal 47th in a recent U.S. News and World Report study, a drastic fall under Shapiro from it's 2018 ranking of 34th during the Wolf years.

"Legislators must be invested in Pennsylvania workers and businesses," she argues. "Let Pennsylvania businesses grow, and keep more of the money they make. Build our economy, so local graduates stay; and begin their futures in Pennsylvania."