State Rep. Tony DeLuca up big in primary rematch against Erin Vecchio

Penn Hills School Board President Erin Vecchio appeared to come up short in her bid to oust longtime state Rep. Tony DeLuca, according to unofficial election returns.

It was the second attempt by Vecchio, 61, to toss DeLuca, 83, from the office he’s held nearly four decades. He defeated her by 35 percentage points in 2018.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, DeLuca had collected 67.6% of the votes counted, while Vecchio collected 32.4%, unofficial tallies showed.

Allegheny County officials were continuing to count ballots early Wednesday, and more ballots could be counted over the next week.

Gov. Tom Wolf issued an executive order Monday extending the deadline for Allegheny and five other counties to receive mail-in and absentee ballots by mail. They will be accepted through 5 p.m. June 9, as long as they were postmarked by June 2.

In Penn Hills, long lines kept the polling site open an extra hour, county officials said.

The decision to consolidate polling sites because of coronavirus-related guidelines limited the number of places for in-person voting. Anyone in line by 9 p.m. was allowed to cast a vote at the Penn Hills Library, Allegheny County Spokeswoman Amie Downs said.

The 32nd District covers Penn Hills, Verona, Blawnox and parts of O’Hara and Plum. No Republicans ran for the seat in Tuesday’s primary.

Neither Vecchio or DeLuca could immediately be reached for comment.

Vecchio is a Penn Hills graduate who is in her second stint on the school board. She served previously from 1998 to 2009 before being reelected in 2016.

DeLuca has served the 32nd State House District since 1983.

DeLuca recently introduced a bill that would guarantee Pennsylvanians have a host of essential health benefits at their disposal in the event the Affordable Care Act is repealed.