U.S. Congress 6th District Election Results: Ryan Costello Defeats Mike Parrish

U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello has defended his seat in Congress after defeating Democratic challenger Mike Parrish. Costello holds a 62,257 to 51,547 vote lead over Parrish, with 159 of 228 districts reporting. The GOP has been projected to maintain control of the House of Representatives, so Costello will rejoin the majority.

In a statement Tuesday night, Costello said he was "humbled" by his first re-election. "Incredibly humbled and honored to have been given the trust of the voters in (PA's 6th district). Look forward to working hard each day on their behalf."

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden issued a statement in the wake of Costello's victory.

“Congratulations to Ryan Costello on his victory in Pennsylvania’s 6th District," Walden said. "Ryan has dedicated his time in Congress to working across the aisle to find common sense solutions on transportation and infrastructure needs, and bringing accountability to the Philadelphia VA. Ryan has once again proven to voters he is the right fit for the 6th District and I look forward to working with him in Congress in 2017.”

Original story: Pennsylvania's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for grabs Tuesday as incumbent Ryan Costello takes on challenger and Democrat Mike Parrish.

The seat has been Republican since 2003, when longtime Congressman Jim Gerlach first came into office. He held the position through January of 2015, when Costello first took over. He won the 2014 election handily over Manan Trivedi, earning 56 percent of the of vote.

Costello, 40, is a graduate of Ursinus College and Villanova University School of Law. He has been vocal in Congress about veterans issues, and has introduced and cosponsored legislation on a variety of issues. Most recently, he worked to introduce a bipartisan bill to assist World War II veterans affected by mustard gas. Currently, he serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has endorsed Costello and he campaigned for him in Upper Uwchlan in early October. He specifically pointed to Costello's work on the Transportation bill as evidence of his capability as a legislator and leader.

One point of contention in the campaign between Costello and Parrish has been Donald Trump. Costello did not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, and while he has previously stated he would support the Republican nominee, he has not been a vocal advocate of Trump. During the primary season, Costello spoke of his admiration for both Jeb Bush and John Kasich.

Parrish, meanwhile, has attacked Costello for not coming out against Trump.

Parrish is a colonel in Army Reserve and a West Point graduate. He also has a master's in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Stanford and an MBA from Wharton at Penn. He is currently the CEO of an environmental services company in West Chester. The seat is considered "safely Republican," according to Ballotpedia.

1:46 p.m. Rep. Costello took the polls Tuesday afternoon in Chester County and shared photos from the scene with his family.

Below is a selection of quotes illustrating each candidate's stance on several major issues. Quotes from each candidate are courtesy of the Costello campaign and the Parrish campaign unless otherwise noted.

National Security

Parrish: "As a beacon for freedom and opportunity, we are the target for foreign governments and terrorist groups. We must keep our nation safe from enemies – foreign and domestic. Sequestration, supported by extremists in Congress, gutted our readiness and reduced endstrength to levels lower than before WWII. Keeping our nation safe and our military strong is a top priority. As part of a strong military, we must ensure veterans get the specialized care we’ve earned. Congress is wrongly trying to privatize the VA, despite opposition from veterans groups. I stand with my fellow veterans, and oppose attempts to give away billions in taxpayer money to special interests at the expense of those who served.”

Costello: "The Administration’s actions against ISIS are not working, largely due to the absence of a comprehensive strategy. I’ve supported measures to cut off terrorists’ access to financing, to empower local security forces on the ground so they can rollback ISIS in Iraq, to support increased military cooperation with our allies in the region who are fighting ISIS, and to require the Secretary of Defense to submit a plan to retake the ISIS stronghold in a key area of Iraq. Further, I voted for legislation that would reject the Administration’s idea to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States... I voted for bipartisan legislation that would suspend the admission of Syrian refugees until our top national security advisors can examine the process for those entering the country and confirm it is not possible for terrorists to breach this process."

Education

Parrish: "Increasing funding for pre-K programs to encourage greater achievement, and working with states and school districts to effectively roll out the reforms created by ESSA are steps Congress must take. I also stand with our teachers. We must stop using teachers as a scapegoat for systemic shortcomings. I will work to empower teachers and treat them like the professionals they are. Strong public education doesn’t stop at 12th grade, which is why I support addressing the student debt crisis and creating more opportunities for everyone, especially women and minorities, to pursue an education that will lead them to a job in the rapidly growing STEM fields.”

Costello told the Reading Eagle: "We need to make college more affordable for kids who want to go to college - we can't price them out of the market," he said. "The last thing we want to do is saddle the next generation of Americans with more debt related to the life choices they make at an early age."

Energy and the Environment

Parrish: "As a Stanford astronautical engineer, I know that climate change is happening. The science is clear, and we must stop debating the reality of climate change and take action Addressing climate change is not just a necessity, it is an economic opportunity. I support the development and deployment of clean and renewable energy to address climate change. The availability of affordable and abundant energy fueled our economic growth for much of the last century. However, there has been a huge cost to our environment and our health and safety. Renewable energy will substantially decrease dangerous emissions, increase domestic energy production, stabilize and decrease energy costs, create jobs and drive economic growth. Advances in renewable energy production have dramatically lowered costs in recent years. By investing in renewables and creating an environment that attracts private investment and encourages continued innovation, we can build the new energy economy we desperately need.”

Costello: "The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, of which I am a member, has advanced long-term reauthorization legislation for passenger rail, highways, and aviation. We will be considering a water resources bill in the near future, and just this week, we took an important step to improve the safety of our national pipeline network by approving – with unanimous, bipartisan support – The Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016. Every day in the United States, 2.6 million miles of pipelines transport the energy that power homes, schools and businesses. This legislation would improve the safety of our nation’s pipeline network by working together to promote greater use of innovation, improve communication and cooperation, and close existing gaps in federal safety standards."

Regarding climate change, Costello is one of 10 Republicans that has publicly stated humans are causing global warming, and has promised to work towards resolving the issue. He told the Reading Eagle: "We can't just stick our heads in the sand and say there is no problem," he said.

Health Care

Parrish: “The Affordable Care Act is an important first step to comprehensive healthcare for all citizens, but it needs significant improvement. Voting repeatedly to repeal the ACA without offering a viable alternative is a cheap political trick. I support preserving the important progress we have started through healthcare reform, while working in a bipartisan way to improve the ACA. Access to affordable healthcare is vital to American families, and curbing rising healthcare costs is important for a strong economy. As a result of healthcare reform, students and young adults are able to stay on their parents’ insurance as they start their working lives, those looking to start a business have greater freedom to do so by purchasing their own coverage instead of depending upon an employer, and those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage that was previously denied to them altogether. We must protect these important steps forward.”

Costello: "ObamaCare was an ill-conceived, poorly designed, and terribly implemented law, which has resulted in millions of canceled policies across the country particularly among seniors. Its higher taxes and costs on businesses and families are dragging our economy down. Even the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has said the health law will cost our economy over 2 million jobs over the next 10 years, primarily among low wage workers. That's a shame, and it's not what Americans were promised by the President or Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The law should have been a patient-centered, market-based reforms, focusing on quality care, transparency in health costs, accessibility, and portability so that individuals can maintain coverage between jobs, while maintaining some of the commonsense areas of agreement in the law like ending discrimination of those with pre-existing conditions, and allowing young adults to stay on their parents' plans."

Images courtesy Ryan Costello for Congress and Mike Parrish for Congress.