Chris Deluzio, Jeremy Shaffer stake early leads in Pa.'s 17th Congressional District

Former Ross Township Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer and Iraq War veteran and voting-rights attorney Chris Deluzio staked early leads in their primary races Tuesday in the 17th Congressional District.

Shaffer was vying for the Republican nomination against national security expert Jason Killmeyer and Kathy Coder, a former Bellevue councilwoman who owns a small business dedicated to leadership training. Deluzio was facing Sean Meloy, a community leader seeking to become the state’s first openly gay congressman, in the Democratic race.

Shortly after 11 p.m., Shaffer had collected 58.7% of the votes counted, compared with 24.3% for Killmeyer and 17% for Coder, according to unofficial tallies. On Democratic side, Deluzio had 63.3% of the votes counted against Meloy’s 36.7%, the tallies from the Department of State showed.

The Republican and Democratic nominees will square off in a November race to replace second-term U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in a district that includes Beaver County and parts of Butler and Allegheny Counties. Lamb, a Democrat from Mt. Lebanon, opted not to seek reelection in the House in order to run for U.S. Senate.

Shaffer declared victory shortly before 9:30 p.m.

“I am incredibly grateful to all the primary voters who put their trust in me today and want to thank my Republican opponents for a spirited competition and their willingness to step forward and serve,” he said. “This election is about the future of our region and country, and the voters will have a clear choice in November.”

Shaffer vowed to be “an independent voice for Western Pennsylvania taxpayers and always accountable to the people” if elected in the general election. After talking with voters ahead of the race, he said he felt they were ready for a representative who would work to “stand up to the career politicians, fix our economy and take our country back.”

Coder had not yet conceded the race as Shaffer declared victory. She acknowledged Shaffer’s wide lead, but said she wanted to wait for more votes to be tallied. She also raised concerns about an election process in which some polling places allegedly ran out of ballots.

Killmeyer conceded the race by around 9:30 p.m.

“It has been a great honor to meet thousands upon thousands of people from here in Western Pennsylvania and hear their stories,” Killmeyer said. “The part of the process I love of trying to be a local representative is you hear from the people very directly and very immediately.”

On the Democratic ballot, Deluzio’s campaign was “really encouraged” by the early lead, said campaign spokeswoman Caitlin Handerhan.

“These are the numbers that we’re expecting tonight,” she said.

Meloy’s campaign team did not immediately respond to messages.