Tag: Primary Election

Primary Election Day: A Look at How Local Candidates Are and Are Not Using Twitter

Today, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 is Primary Election Day in the state of Pennsylvania. I am particularly interested to see how the turnout for this local election compares to previous primary elections that occur after a presidential election. Since November, there has been an incredible volume of posts on social media about getting involved in local issues. The turnout today will be an interesting metric of if posting about local politics translates into voting locally.

I have been following the election on Twitter all day and out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the candidates are tweeting about today. As I was building a Twitter list of candidates, I was a little surprised to find that many of the candidates on the ballot in the City of Pittsburgh are not on Twitter. I’ve put together a list of candidate that are on the ballot in Pittsburgh with their Twitter handles and # of followers today. Given that the current President of the United States uses Twitter on a daily basis, and that Twitter is used by many politicians in Washington to communicate with constituents, I expected that more of the local candidates would have Twitter accounts.

I have excluded the judicial candidates and magistrate races from this list. Of the 20 candidates listed only 11 have Twitter accounts, (handles are listed below) and not all of them are very active.

The only candidates that have posted at least one tweet today are @tkailsmith , @FifeMyers , @DanielGilman , @BillPeduto & @AshleighDeemer.

You can follow our Twitter list of Pittsburgh primary candidates here. Live stream of candidate tweets is included below.

	Office	Candidate	Twitter	# of Followers
1	Mayor of City of Pittsburgh	Bill Peduto	@BillPeduto	57,123
2		Darlene Harris	@Darlene4Pgh	1291
3		John Welch	@welch4mayor	124
4	Allegheny County Sheriff	Bill Mullen
5		George Satler
6	Pittsburgh City Council District 2	Theresa Kail-Smith	@TKailSmith	1583
7	Pittsburgh City Council District 4	Anthony Coghill	@CoghillAnthony	28
8		Ashleigh Deemer	@AshleighDeemer	1245
9	Pittsburgh City Council District 6	Daniel Lavelle	@RDLavelle	3260
10	Pittsburgh City Council District 8	Daniel Gilman	@RDLavelle	6001
11	Allegheny County Council	Jim Ellenbogen
12		Robert J. Palmosina
12	Pittsburgh School Board District 1	Sylvia C. Wilson	@SylviaCWilson	30
14	Pittsburgh School Board District 3	James Myers	@FifeMyers	436
15		Sala Udin	@SalaUdine	200
16	Pittsburgh School Board District 5	Terry Kennedy
17		Ghadah Makoshi	@G_Makoshi_PGH	10
18	Pittsburgh School Board District 7	Cynthia A. Falls
19	Pittsburgh School Board District 9	Veronica Edwards
20		Carolyn Klug

A Twitter List by iheartpgh

May 16, 2017

Primary Election Day

Tuesday, April 26, 2016 is the Primary Election in the State of Pennsylvania.

Polling locations are open from 7am-8pm.

More information is available from the Allegheny County Department of Elections website.

You can find your polling place by using the State of Pennsylvania’s polling place locator here.

April 5, 2016

Pittsburgh 2014 Primary Election Day Guide

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 20 is election day in Pennsylvania. The polls are open from 7am to 8pm.

Here is what you will find in this post:

[TOC]

Find Your Polling Location

Need to know where to go to vote? Enter your address at vote411.org to find where you should go to vote.

Primary vs. General Election – what is the difference?

Tomorrow is the primary election – where each party chooses the candidates for the general election. From the VotesPA website:

In Pennsylvania’s Primary Elections, voters choose their party’s nominees to run in the General Election by casting ballots.

Pennsylvania holds closed Primary Elections, meaning you must be a member of the party to vote for that party’s candidate (for example, you could not vote in the Republican primary unless you are a registered member of the Republican Party). The candidates that receive the highest number of votes in the Primary Election will be the nominee representing their party on the General Election ballot.

Voter Guides

Nonpartisan Voter Guides for the 2014 Pennsylvania Primary Election:

Smart Voter is the League of Women Voters nonpartisan guide – not the prettiest website, but has a ton of information
BikePGH Questionnaires for Candidates for Governor [@bikepgh]
B-PEP (Black Political Empowerment Project)is a non-partisan civic organization founded in 1986 was a partner to the African American Gubernatorial Forum Coalition which produced the Tuesday, April 22, 2014 event at Central Baptist Church located in the Hill District, Pittsburgh, PA. Here are the responses from three of the candidates that were submitted to the coalition
Pennsylvania Environmental Council – Q&A on the Environment – includes answers from Tom Corbett and all 4 democratic candidates [@PECPA]
PennFuture Questionnaire: Gubernatorial Candidates’ Responses

Partisan Voter Guide for the 2014 Pennsylvania Primary Election:

14th Ward Independent Democratic Club 2014 Primary Endorsements
Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Voter Guide
EqualityPA Voter Guide [@EqualityPA]
Keystone Progress PAC 2014 Primary Election Endorsements [@KeystoneProgres]
Planned Parenthood of PA [@PPAdvocatesPA ] – click here to for a customized guide by your voting location
Shadyside Dems Candidate Ranking
Sierra Club – Allegheny Group
- No endorsement for governor
- Lt. Governor – Brad Koplinski
- State House 36th District – Erin Molchany
Steel City Stonewall Democrats 2014 Primary Endorsements [@StonewallPGH]

Election Night Parties Around Pittsburgh

Usually each campaign hosts an after party where volunteers can gather for some food and to watch the results together.

Know of another party that should be on this list? Please leave a comment below and we will update the post.

Pittsburgh Election Day Discounts

Local businesses that are planning to offer a discount to folks who have voted.

Twitter Handles for Candidates

Governor
	Rob McCord	@RobMcCord
	Allyson Schwartz
Lt. Governor
	Brad Koplinski	@BradKoplinski
	Mike Stack	@StackforPA
Congress PA 12
	Keith Rothfus
	John Hugya
	Erin McClelland
Congress PA-14
	Mike Doyle	@USRepMikeDoyle
	Dr Janis Brooks
PA State House – 20
	Tom Fodi	@ElectTomFodi @TomFodi
	Tom Michalow	@TomMichalow
	Adam Ravenstahl	@AdamRavenstahl
PA State House – 23
	Dan Frankel	@RepDanFrankel
PA State House – 24
	William Anderson
	Ed Gainy	@EdGainey
	Todd Koger
PA State House – 36
	Erin Molchany	@ErinMolchany
	Harry Readshaw
PA State House – 42
	Dan Miller	@VoteDanMiller

Hashtags to Follow

#votePGH Instagram Contest

Help us get out the vote. Share your election day photos on Instagram with the hashtag #votePGH

May 19, 2014

Election Day Information – Where to Vote, Voter Guides & Election Day Discounts
Today – Tuesday, May 21, 2013 is election day in the city of Pittsburgh.

Election Day Information

Polls are open from 7am to 8pm.

Use the Allegheny County Polling Place Locator to find your polling place.

More details and Election Day Resources are available here

Voter Guides

Looking for information on the candidates? Check out the following voter guides:
- Voting Guide for the May 2013 Primary Election in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County – this is an extensive guide to candidates that was put together by a CMU grad student
- Bike Pittsburgh – We Bike. We Walk. We Vote. Bike Pittsburgh has posted questionnaires from all of the mayoral candidates and city council candidate.
Voter Specials – Election Day Discounts

Click here to check out the list of local businesses that are offering discounts (and free beer) if you bring in your voting stub.
May 21, 2013
Tue May 14 is the Deadline to Apply for an Absentee Ballot

If you are going to be out of town on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 you need to vote by absentee ballot. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 5:00pm.

Get all of the details on applying for an absentee ballot at votePGH here.

If you have not yet signed the votePGH pledge please take a moment to visit votePGH.org and sign the pledge. We are working to make sure we have at least 1 pledge from each neighborhood. Take a look at the neighborhood’s list here. We’ve got 50+ more neighborhoods that need to pledge.

May 13, 2013