NORRISTOWN — Norristown Municipal Councilwoman Lauren Hughes appears to have retained her seat in a special election during Tuesday’s primary.
The incumbent Democrat received 124 votes, while Republican opponent Antonio Davila had 24 votes, according to Montgomery County’s 2024 primary election unofficial results dashboard. Hughes, a senior assistant solicitor with the Montgomery County Solicitor’s Office, announced her intentions in early March to run to represent the municipality’s fourth district.
She’d first been appointed to serve out the remainder of former Councilman Hakim Jones’ term as he resigned to run for a magisterial district judgeship in the 2023 election.
Democrat Dionne Lee ran unopposed in the 2023 general election, receiving 1,024 votes in her favor, with another 22 write-in votes reported, according to 2023 election results. However, Lee was never sworn in, as Solicitor Sean Kilkenny said she was “ineligible to take office because of a prior conviction.”
Hughes was once again named and sworn in to serve on a temporary basis until the special election could decide a permanent replacement.
“I’ve learned that there’s just a lot of hope and promise in Norristown,” Hughes told MediaNews Group in January. “Norristown is about to really blow up, and I’m excited that I have a direct role in that from the development that’s coming, the businesses that are coming to the community. We made a lot of big decisions this last year, and I think it’s going to continue on this year.”
Along with the special election in the county seat, Montgomery County voters came out to make their choices in national and state races. There were 608,481 registered voters, according to the county’s 2024 unofficial primary election results dashboard.
In-person voting shows 89,783 ballots counted across 426 precincts on Election Day, according to unofficial results posted as of 1:45 a.m. Wednesday. The election’s absentee and mail-in component had 60,408 ballots returned, and 58,949 ballots counted. Another 1,459 were considered “pending evaluation.” Counting of provisional and military ballots has not yet started.
This comes as delays surrounding mail-in ballots dominated the Montgomery County Board of Elections’ meeting on Monday.
“This is the first election overseeing the process as new commissioners and I am developing a number of recommendations that I think will improve the process,” Montgomery County Election Board Chairman Neil Makhija told MediaNews Group Wednesday morning. “I am glad that while we had some issues with USPS and delivery, our team reacted quickly to communicate to the electorate through new means, like obtaining all voter’s emails, and informing them about the importance of returning ballots through drop boxes.”
The presidential primary race was top of mind for voters as they decided who they’d like to see on the ballot in November.
Unofficial results for the Democrats show 87,322 votes for President Joe Biden and 3,617 votes for Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips. The Republican race had 38,001 votes for former president Donald Trump, and 12,437 votes for former candidate Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign last month.
Additionally, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, and Republican candidate Dave McCormick each ran unopposed, receiving 92,142 votes and 48,003 votes, respectively, according to the county’s unofficial election results dashboard. Both names will likely appear on the November ballot.
All results are considered unofficial until certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Officials have until May 13 to do so.
