State Sen. Judy Ward, R-30th District (left), meets supporter Kathy Greenland of Warriors Mark during the Blair Republican election party at the Altoona Grand Hotel on Tuesday evening. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

State Sen. Judy Ward will retain her seat after amassing an insurmountable lead against Democratic challenger Carol Taylor Tuesday.

“I’m just grateful to everybody who supported me,” Ward said at a Republican watch party at the Altoona Grand Hotel. “It’s a privilege to serve, (and) I’m honored to be re-elected.”

According to the state election results website, Ward received 75,260 votes to Taylor’s 22,237, according to unofficial results late Tuesday night.

Ward amassed big wins in each of the five counties in the district.

It’s difficult being a Democrat in this “extremely conservative” district, said Taylor, a political activist who has practiced law and counseled people with addictions.

Nevertheless, it was “crucial for me to take a stand — otherwise, there’s no dialog, no progress,” Taylor said.

She wished Ward good luck for another term.

Ward credited Taylor for running “an issues-based race.”

The support that surfaced Election Day resulted from her legislative “wins” and her efforts to help constituents, according to Ward.

Ward said her legislative wins are a new law that liberalized procedures that surgery centers are entitled to perform without obtaining waivers from the state Department of Health; and a proposed constitutional amendment that has passed in one session of the General Assembly — and that if ultimately adopted would declare abortion not to be a constitutionally protected right.

Among constituents Ward helped was a woman who wanted a double mastectomy during the COVID crisis, when elective surgeries were restricted, Ward said.

The hospital where she was to be operated on agreed only to remove the breast that was currently cancerous, which would have forced the woman to return for a second operation, given the high probability that the other breast would eventually develop a tumor, Ward said.

Ward intervened in the “ridiculous” situation, and the hospital relented, she said.

During her time in the Senate, Ward has been “open, ac­­­­cessible, humble and open-minded,” said Jim Foreman, Blair County Republican Committee chairman.

She has also handled difficult situations that have arisen with “sensitivity,” Foreman said.

One of those was the controversy that arose over staffing shortages at UPMC Altoona, resulting in long delays in obtaining care for patients, according to Foreman.

Not all lawmakers would have engaged with both the hospital and the unionized nurses who were dissatisfied with the hospital’s response to the problem, he said.

However, Ward, who was previously a nurse, explored the issues, even though they didn’t necessarily result in an outcome satisfactory to the union, Foreman said.

Blair County Democratic Party Chairman Gillian Kratzer said Taylor engaged with voters, including those who didn’t share her policy positions, and despite the polarization that has become endemic in our society, managed to convince some Republicans to moderate their views.

At a festival in the summer, she spoke with one Republican who told her she agreed with nothing that Taylor might say, Kratzer said.

But after “a solid half-hour” of conversation, the woman hugged Taylor, asked for a campaign button and promised to vote for her, Kratzer said.

There are issues that Democrats can’t compromise on, like the human dignity of people who identify at LGBT, and the rights of women over their own body, Kratzer said.

But there’s room for compromise and discussion on the economy, education and health care, at least, Kratzer said.

“I agree 100 percent” with Kratzer’s assessment of the importance of Democratic opposition in a county in which Republicans enjoy a 2-1 edge in registration, Foreman said.

Such opposition is “healthy” and helps guarantee that people become cognizant of their “choices,” Foreman said.

Our political system isn’t set up to be strictly majoritarian, Foreman stated, citing the filibuster in the U.S. Senate and the Bill of Rights, which help ensure the minority has an effective voice.

The power that “50 percent plus one” can bestow is “dangerous,” Foreman said.