Voter Turnout Up 13 Percent In Chester County From 2015

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Voter turnout drastically increased in Chester County in 2019, as 39.9 percent of registered voters cast ballots, corresponding with the historic wins for Democrats across the board.

That's a whopping 13 percent increase over 2015, the last election with same offices up for grabs. Only 26.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the county in 2015.

Electoral changes happen, but rarely are they this dramatic. Republicans dominated Chester County in 2015, winning lopsided victories in all major county races. Four years later, Democrats won lopsided victories in all major county races. In neither 2015 or 2019 was any major race even close.

It's left the local GOP reeling and as confused as anyone.

"For our election to result in such a loss is impossible to comprehend after such an extraordinary effort from our committee, candidates and volunteers," Rick Loughery, the Chairman of the Republican Committee of Chester County, said in a statement early Wednesday. "Words cannot describe how I feel today, but I'm truly sorry that we could not pull through."

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Determining what drives the electorate is as much art as science, and it's likely there is no one clear answer as to why Democrats are in charge of the district attorney's office, sheriff's office, and board of county commissioners for the first time in history.

Whatever the answer is, it's more nuanced than the oft-trotted out "blue wave" explanation, that cites the national movement in favor of the left that helped Democrats win major victories in the 2018 midterms. The typically cited reason for the blue wave is a backlash against President Trump.

But in Chester County, at least, there's more to it. It's not just Democrats turning out in droves, it's Republicans, too. A total of 35,370 ballots were cast for the "straight Republican" ticket on Tuesday; that's 13,000 more than 2015. More people are engaged in politics locally across the board, not just on the left.

It's just that Democrats saw a much larger increase. In 2015, they earned 16,303 straight party ballots; that number ballooned to 40,936 Tuesday.

Democrats also won sweeping victories nearby in Delaware and Bucks counties.

According to Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Patton Mills, "Voters were inspired and mobilized by our candidates and their commitment to clean up corruption and work for the people."

Whatever it is, the strategy employed by local Democrats has been hugely successful in 2018 and 2019. It remains to be seen if that momentum will carry over in 2020, or if Republicans can build on their own increased turnout during a Presidential election.