Pennsylvania Election Results 2012: Democrats Sweep Statewide Seats

President Barack Obama has won in Pennsylvania, gaining the state's 20 electoral votes, according to CBS, NBC and ABC.

According to unofficial results as of 2 a.m., Obama had captured 52 percent of the popular vote compared to Romney's 47 percent.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Scranton, won in Pennsylvania, according to multiple sources. His opponent, Republican coal executive and Tea Party founder Tom Smith of Armstrong County, conceded to Casey at 10:30 p.m.

See our story for the results for the uncontested state House and Senate seats.

2012 UNOFFICIAL PENNSYLVANIA ELECTION RESULTS

Check back here all day for live election updates.

Influential Pennsylvania political insiders differ on the key to winning the Keystone State for President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Republicans say the role of undecided and independent voters will be key to a Romney win, while Democrats say turning out their base is the top priority for Obama, according to Red Keystone/Blue Keystone surveys by Patch.

Here's how the replies from survey respondents broke down:

Republicans on what's more important

• 13 — Get out the base
• 35 — Convince undecided/independent voters

Democrats on what's more important

• 21 — Get out the base
• 6 — Convince undecided/independent voters

Who will win Pennsylvania?

Democrats were far more unified than Republicans in their opinion of who will win Pennsylvania. Twenty-seven said Obama, while just two said Romney. Eighteen Republicans said Obama and 32 said Romney.

Who had the best ground game and ad campaign?

Democrats and Republicans both largely supported their party candidate on the question of who ran the best campaign. Patch asked survey takers to assess the campaigns, regardless of the respondent's partisan preference.

How did Pennsylvania vote in 2008 presidential race?

In 2008, Pennsylvania voted Democratic, with nearly 3.3 million voters, or 55 percent, casting ballots for the Obama-Biden team. Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin earned nearly 2.7 million votes. According to statistics collected by the Pennsylvania Department of State office, voter turnout tallied about 68.4 percent in 2008. 

2010 was a much better election year, however, for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania.

Former state Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, defeated then-Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, a Democrat, in the race for governor. Republicans also picked up a seat in the state Senate, gained five seats in the House of Representatives and took control of both chambers of the Legislature.

Here's a sampling of comments from the Patch surveys:

Republicans

• I think the results will be extremely close and will be based on turnout, yet at the same time, I believe the local elections down the ballot will be affected in results by the amount of times a person is willing to switch parties. They will for president, but the questions remains, when will they change back to their party.

• if Pennsylvania goes to Romney, it's going to be an early election night. Looks like team R and R may have caught the President flat-footed.

• Republicans will increase house margin from 12-7 to 13-5

• Record voter turnout in GOP areas, average turnout in Dem areas.

• I think voters are disappointed with how things have gone the past four years and will make that frustration heard at the polls on Tuesday.

Democrats

• The presidential campaign has been lackluster in Pennsylvania. Obama felt that this was his state from the beginning, and Romney has not been highly involved until recently.

• While I believe the enthusiasm for President Obama has diminished a bit since the 2008 election, I'm not seeing much enthusiasm at all for Gov. Romney.

• I think Casey, Kane, and McCord will win. Auditor General will be a nail biter and unfortunately I believe Mark Critz is going to lose. I think the Democrats will pick up a total of 4-6 seats in the state House and 1 in the state Senate.

• Pennsylvania must institute an early voting program—similar to 37 other states. 

• I am distressed and, quite frankly, disgusted with the influence of the Super PACs on this election. Money should not buy a candidate an office and these Super PACs exist only to use their dollars to buy the office for the candidate of their choice. Their ads are, in many cases, misleading and misinformed.  If those individuals have so much money, why don't they use it to help people rather than work to tear our country apart with their rhetoric?

Also on the presidential ballot is Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

In Pennsylvania's race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D-Scranton) is challenged by Tom Smith (R-Shelocta). 

Voters also will select candidates to fill three state offices:

Pennsylvania Treasurer

Robert M. McCord (D-Incumbent)
Diana Irey Vaughan (R)
Patricia M. Fryman (Libertarian) 

Pennsylvania Attorney General

Kathleen G. Kane (D)
David J. Freed (R)
Marakay J. Rogers (Libertarian)

Pennsylvania Auditor General 

Eugene A. DePasquale (D)
John Maher (R)
Betsy Elizabeth Summers (Libertarian)

Voters in Forest Hills, Edgewood and Swissvale will also choose a member of Congress to represent the 14th Congressional District. Incumbent Mike Doyle (D-Forest Hills) faces newcomer Hans Lessmann (R-Forest Hills). The district also includes Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfant, East Pittsburgh, North Braddock, Rankin, Turtle Creek, Wilkins and Wilkinsburg, among other communities.

Stay with Patch all day as we update this article with news and information from the polls and live election results after 8 p.m.

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Who do you believe will win the presidential race? How about the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania? Tell us in the comments.

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