Republican Dan Laughlin re-elected Pennsylvania state senator for 3rd term

State Sen. Dan Laughlin will hold onto his seat in the Pennsylvania State Senate.

The Republican incumbent handily won re-election in Tuesday's general election, defeating Democratic challenger Jim Wertz by nearly 11,000 votes after a contentious campaign steeped in negative ads and a lawsuit.

Unofficial vote totals showed Laughlin with 69,788, or 54.17% of total votes, to Wertz's 58,825 votes.

Laughlin, 62, a Millcreek Township resident, will begin a third consecutive four-year term in the 49th senatorial district seat, which represents nearly all of Erie County. He was first elected to the seat in 2016.

Laughlin said his third term priorities include education, public safety and the economy. He said he will continue to oppose “no cash bail." He's also introduced a bill that would mandate Pennsylvania prosecutors to inform the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement whenever illegal migrants are charged with violating state law.

Laughlin could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Wertz, who's on sabbatical as a professor of broadcast journalism and digital media at PennWest-Edinboro, was most prominently the chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party from 2018 to 2023.

Wertz, an Erie resident, wrote a July 22 opinion column in the Erie Reader that led Laughlin to sue Wertz and the free monthly newspaper. The column linked Laughlin to then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Laughlin said the column misrepresented his views. The Erie Reader and Wertz are arguing the column is an opinion piece protected under the First Amendment. A trial is scheduled for March. The next pretrial hearing is Dec. 5.

Following Tuesday's election results, Wertz provided a statement to the Erie Times-News indicating he was grateful for his team, the work they did together and the "friends we made along the way."

"I look forward to spending time with my family who made important sacrifices for this campaign over the past year, and continuing to support our community in whatever ways I can for whatever it may need," he said.

Laughlin serves as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and vice chairman of the Game and Fisheries Committee. He also serves as the Senate representative on the advisory council of the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Erie.

A.J. Rao can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Dan Laughlin wins 3rd term as 49th Dist. state senator