Cook and Toprani locked in tight race for 49th; other incumbents win
Steve Toprani walks around the Donora American Legion to say a quick hello to family and friends before leaving to await election results.
Steve Toprani thanks supporters Tuesday night at the Donora American Legion.
A former Washington County district attorney running as a Democrat was locked in a tight battle with the Republican incumbent late Tuesday to represent the 49th District in the state House.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Camera Bartolotta hugs a supporter Tuesday at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Meadow Lands.
Steve Toprani, who became a solicitor after serving one term through 2012 as a Republican district attorney and first-term state Rep. Bud Cook were separated by 94 votes with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial election results.However, absentee ballots had yet to be counted late Tuesday. Cook having 9,695 votes while Toprani had 9,601, unofficial tallies showed.
Toprani, 39, of Monongahela, described criminal justice reform as a priority during his campaign. Amid the epidemic of overdose deaths stemming from opioids, Toprani also said he wanted to see “appropriate funds” going toward proven ways of treating addiction.
Cook, 62, is a freshman Republican lawmaker from West Pike Run Township. Leading up to election night Cook campaigned for what he labeled “accountability and transparency” issues in how grants are distributed from the local share of the pot at The Meadows Casino in North Strabane Township.
The 49th District includes much of the Mon Valley in Washington County and part of Fayette County.
Incumbent state Sen. Camera Bartolotta scored a victory Tuesday in her race against her Democratic challenger for the 46th state Senate seat.
Bartolotta, R-Carroll, had a sizeable lead in Washington, Beaver and Greene counties in the race against political newcomer James Craig, a Democrat from North Strabane Township. She carried more than 60 percent of the vote in Washington County with 159 of 175 precincts reporting at 10:30 p.m. She also was leading Craig by more than 1,000 votes in Beaver County with two-thirds of the precincts there counted. Her total was 53,794 votes to Craig’s 37,354 votes.
“I have the best volunteers and the best staff anywhere,” Bartolotta said before the race was called. She was first elected to the seat in 2014.
“I’m gratified,” Bartolotta said at the local Republican election watch gathering at the DoubleTree by Hilton in North Strabane Township.
She credited her success to “really hard work, of being available and accessible, of paying attention to the needs of the district and fulfilling promises.”
In the race for the 46th House District, Jason Ortitay, 34, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Smith Township, scored an apparent victory against Byran Timmons, a Democrat from Cecil Township.
With 24 of 26 precincts reporting in Allegheny County, Ortitay had nearly 52 percent of the votes. In Washington County, he led Timmons by nearly 2,300 votes with 159 of 175 precincts reporting.
The district includes northern Washington County and part of Allegheny County
In the race for the 48th House District, Tim O’Neal, 38, a Republican from South Strabane Township, defeated Clark Mitchell Jr., a Democrat who also resides in South Strabane, according to the unofficial results. He had 11,931 votes to Clark’s 9,448 votes with just a few precincts left to be counted.
That race was a rematch of a special election in March to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Neuman after he was elected to the Washington County bench. In that race, O’Neal, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, lead the race by nearly 800 votes.
The district includes Washington, Canonsburg and the surrounding communities.
In the 50th district, Democratic incumbent Pam Snyder, 62, of Jefferson in Greene County, also scored a victory against Betsy Rohanna McClure of Franklin Township, a nurse in the Trinity Area School District.
Snyder had 9,710 votes to 7,602 for McClure with all but two Fayette County precincts counted, unofficial results show. She carried both Greene County and the Washington County portion of her district.
Snyder was first elected to the House in 2012. McClure challenged Snyder in 2016, with Snyder narrowly winning.
The district includes all of Greene County, East Bethlehem and Centerville in Washington County and part of Fayette County.
Staff writers Linda Ritzer and Karen Mansfield contributed to this report.