Thomas Leads Mitchell In District 178 PA House Race

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA — Republican state Rep. Wendi Thomas appeared to be in good position Wednesday to hold onto her seat in a Bucks County district running from Northampton to New Hope.

At 10:20 a.m., Thomas held a 20,011 to 11,659 lead over Democratic challenger Ann Marie Mitchell in the District 178 House race. That was with all 28 of the district's precincts reporting unofficial results.

As election workers continued to count mail-in ballots in the race, Mitchell still stood a chance of at least cutting into Thomas's lead. As of about 10 a.m. Wednesday, there were 109,000 mail-in ballots yet to be counted in all of Bucks County, according to officials.

According to figures shared this week by the county, registered Democrats cast a considerably larger number of mail-in votes that Bucks County Republicans, who voted in person on Election Day in higher numbers.

Thomas, 59, is a former Council Rock school board members finishing her first term in Harrisburg. She campaigned on issues like holding the line on taxes and kickstarting Pennsylvania's economy after the coronavirus shutdown.

"Quite simply, struggling Pennsylvanians need to be able to start earning money again and keep as much of that money as possible to provide for themselves and their families, catch up on bills and more," she said in a Patch profile.

Mitchell, 55, is a businesswoman and attorney who also lives in Northampton. She campaigned on themes including lowering prescription drug prices, passing paid family leave and protecting health care benefits.

"Now is the time for responsible balanced independent leadership grounded in facts and science, with a new representative with service at their core to make sure Pennsylvanians can safely get back to work and school," Mitchell told Patch.