Winarski fends off challengers to stay on Erie County Council; Wertz, Bayle get party nods
Winarski, who's seeking his second, four-year term on council's 4th District seat, defeated Democratic opponents Michael Keys, Marcus Jacobs, Carl Anderson and Kevin Pastewka.
By 11:25 p.m., Winarski received 1,218 votes, or 28.71% of a total 4,243 votes. Keys received 1,044 votes; Jacobs received 681 votes; Carl Anderson received 654 votes; and Pastewka received 637 votes; according to final unofficial vote totals the Erie County Elections and Voter Registration Office.
No Republican ran for the seat in the May 20 primary.
Winarski, 62, has frequently compromised his party's 5-2 veto-proof majority on council by siding and voting with his Republican colleagues. Democratic pushback culminated with the Erie County Democratic Party censuring Winarski in January 2023.
Winarski told the Erie Times-News at the time that he doesn't make decisions based on politics.
"It isn't about a 'D' or an 'R' with me," he said. "At no point whatsoever do any of my votes come down to siding with one party or the other. It's deciding what I honestly believe is the best for Erie and Erie County."
The 4th District comprises much of Southeast Erie, in addition to Wesleyville Borough and portions of Millcreek.
In the 2nd District, Democrat Jim Wertz handily defeated James DePalma for the Democratic nomination, receiving 2,596 votes over DePalma's 757 votes, final unofficial vote totals showed.
Wertz, 46, previously served as chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party and most recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for the 49th District Pennsylvania Senate seat.
He will face Republican Renee Vendetti ― who ran unopposed in Tuesday's municipal primary election ― in the November general election.
More: Review live coverage from the May 20 Erie County municipal primary
The 2nd District runs east from the Millcreek Township line across the city's bayfront to the Harborcreek Township line. The district includes all of Erie's first ward, parts of the second, third and fourth wards and Lawrence Park Township.
The seat has been held by Democrat Andre Horton, who's serving his third term and is term-limited.
In the 6th District, incumbent Republican Charlie Bayle defeated Republican Scott Rastetter, receiving 1,702 votes over Rastetter's 1,146 votes, final unofficial vote totals showed.
No Democrat ran for the seat in the May 20 primary.
The 6th District encompasses several municipalities across the southern and eastern reaches of Erie County.
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on X @ETNRao.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County Council primary: Winarski, Wertz and Bayle win party nods
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(Newsom's press office argued that the poll was poorly worded, since it asked about getting rid of the independent commission altogether and permanently returning line-drawing power to the legislators, rather than just temporarily scrapping their work for several cycles until the independent commission next draws new lines.) California voters should not expect to see a special election campaign focused on the minutia of reconfiguring the state's congressional districts, however. While many opponents will likely attack the change as undercutting the will of California voters, who overwhelmingly supported weeding politics out of the redistricting process, bank on Newsom casting the campaign as a referendum on Trump and his devious effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress. 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Much of Liao's group chat fodder has involved the output of Newsom's digital team, which has elevated trolling to an art form on its official @GovPressOffice account on the social media site X. The missives have largely mimicked the president's own social media patois, with hyperbole, petty insults and a heavy reliance on the 'caps lock' key. "DONALD IS FINISHED — HE IS NO LONGER 'HOT.' FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS 'STEP,' " one of the posts read last week, dutifully reposted by the governor himself. Some messages have also ended with Newsom's initials (a riff on Trump's signature "DJT" signoff) and sprinkled in key Trumpian callbacks, like the phrase 'Liberation Day,' or a doctored Time Magazine cover with Newsom's smiling mien. The account has garnered 150,000 new followers since the beginning of the month. Shortly after Trump took office in January, Newsom walked a fine line between criticizing the president and his policies and being more diplomatic, especially after the California wildfires — in hopes of appealing to any semblance of compassion and presidential responsibility Trump possessed. Newsom had spent the first months of the new administration trying to reshape the California-vs.-Trump narrative that dominated the president's first term and move away from his party's prior "resistance" brand. Those conciliatory overtures coincided with Newsom's embrace of a more ecumenical posture, hosting MAGA leaders on his podcast and taking a position on transgender athletes' participation in women's sports that contradicted the Democratic orthodoxy. Newsom insisted that he engaged in those conversations to better understand political views that diverged from his own, especially after Trump's victory in November. However, there was the unmistakable whiff of an ambitious politician trying to broaden his national appeal by inching away from his reputation as a West Coast liberal. Newsom's reluctance to readopt the Trump resistance mantle ended after the president sent California National Guard troops into Los Angeles amid immigration sweeps and ensuing protests in June. Those actions revealed Trump's unchecked vindictiveness and abject lack of morals and honor, Newsom said. Of late, Newsom has defended the juvenile tone of his press aides' posts mocking Trump's own all-caps screeds, and questioned why critics would excoriate his parody and not the president's own unhinged social media utterances. "If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as president," Newsom said last week. "So to the extent it's gotten some attention, I'm pleased." In an attention-deficit economy where standing out is half the battle, the posts sparkle with unapologetic swagger. And they make clear that Newsom is in on the joke. 'To a certain set of folks who operated under the old rules, this could be seen as, 'Wow, this is really outlandish.' But I think they are making the calculation that Democrats want folks that are going to play under this new set of rules that Trump has established,' Liao said. At a moment when the Democratic party is still occupied with post-defeat recriminations and what's-next vision boarding, Newsom has emerged from the bog with something resembling a plan. And he's betting the house on his deep-blue state's willingness to fight fire with fire. Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Laura Nelson contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
