PA-13 Election Results: A Tale of Two Counties

In the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 13th district, state rep Brendan Boyle won handily with 41% of the vote over Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law and PA-13's rep from 1993-1995 Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky (27%), state senator Daylin Leach (17%), and physician Val Arkoosh (15%).

Brendan Boyle won because of strong trade union support and the backing of the Philadelphia Democratic machine. However, he has a troubling record on reproductive rights, public education, and surveillance. He's also a drone-loving hawk.

What was fascinating about the results for this race was the clear divide between the two counties that make up PA-13: Philadelphia and Montgomery. The light blue line is the border of the district, and the darker lines are the county borders.



Boyle, unsurprisingly, crushed the other candidates in Philadelphia:

Boyle: 69.50%
MMM: 17.99%
Arkoosh: 7.56%
Leach: 4.93%

However, he came in dead last in Montgomery County:

MMM: 35.27%
Leach: 26.58%
Arkoosh: 22.05%
Boyle: 16.10%

Margolies Mezvinsky, Leach, and Arkoosh all live in Montgomery County. Leach, although the most progressive candidate in the race, doesn't actually live in the district. The majority of his township is in PA-13, but his home was redistricted to PA-07, the most badly gerrymanderd district in the state.