With all 44 district precincts counted Tuesday evening, Verobish had 5,330 votes to McCoy’s 3,923 — 57% vs. 42%.

Given that both candidates will be running unopposed in the May 19 primary, there will be a reprise of Tuesday’s election in November, except that a full two-year House term will be the reward for the winner.

The race that climaxed Tuesday was “an election on steroids,” Verobish said at the Republican watch party at Family Pizza on Pleasant Valley Boulevard, referring to the mere two months between the parties’ nominating conventions and the special election.

She attributed her victory to “grass roots” campaigning — to getting out and talking to voters. Her team knocked on 4,300 doors and made between 6,000 and 7,000 phone calls, pushing a three-part, simple message: that government can’t spend your money better than you can; that life matters from conception to grave; and that prices can be lowered by unleashing Pennsylvania’s energy resources, said Blair County Republican Committee Chairman Matt Zupon.

McCoy

Interacting with voters was energizing, and it kept her going, but the campaign was nevertheless stressful, Verobish said.

Last Saturday, she knocked on doors for six hours, taking 20,000 steps, an effort that left her mentally and physically exhausted, she said.

Overall, her first political campaign as a candidate “was a lot more work than I expected,” said Verobish, a staffer for U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson.

In the House, Verobish intends to practice “servant leadership,” solving problems for constituents, as she has done while working for Thompson, she said.

Legislatively, she will support the proposed Taxpayer Protection Amendment, which would limit the state’s budget based on a formula that takes account of inflation and population growth, she said.

Eyes on November

The Democrats lost, but Blair County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Gillian Kratzer was extremely pleased.

“This is a race that no one thought even for a second would be competitive,” Kratzer said at the Democratic watch party at the Bavarian Aid Society.

It was competitive enough to force the Republicans to “spend real money,” and to resort to several “attack mailers,” she said.

One of those mailers labeled McCoy as “Comrade,” and accused him of supporting Bernie Sanders and socialism — the latter accusation based on a photoshopped picture of him holding a poster, Kratzer said.

The Republican to Democratic edge in the 79th is roughly 60% to 30%, she said.

There hasn’t been a Democrat in Schmitt’s old seat since John Milliron, whose tenure ended in 1978, Kratzer said.

Given past performances in the 79th, McCoy overperformed on Tuesday by 18%, she estimated.

Not only that, but the first-time candidate generated excitement among voters, who included a sizable number of Republicans, according to Kratzer.

The race “was always a scramble uphill,” McCoy said, fresh from a day working the polls.

“I was surprised to get as much of a liftoff as I achieved,” McCoy said. “(But) the goal was always to turn it into a run for November.”

Accordingly, he plans to “expand and develop” his campaign, he said.

He personally knocked on 1,320 doors, working at the rate of 300 a week, Kratzer said.

He built his campaign on the idea that “government can work” — by doing things like raising the minimum wage, expanding access to child care, making it easier to obtain paid parental leave, pushing back on problematic policies of health care providers and health insurance companies and by holding down electric rates despite upward pressure caused by proliferating data centers, he said.

The turnout of 23% of 40,000 registered voters is good for a special election, Kratzer said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.