Democrat Denny Wolff and Republican Dan Meuser won contested races in Tuesday’s Primary Election balloting for a two-year seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, 9th Congressional District, setting the stage for a November showdown to decide who will represent Carbon and Schuylkill counties in Washington.

Wolff, who served as PA Department of Agriculture secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell, defeated two other candidates, Gary Wegman, a dentist from Reading, and Laura Quick, a United Parcel Service driver from Palmyra, while Meuser’s triumph came over Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage of Pottsville and Scott C. Uehlinger of Topton, who once served in the Central Intelligence Agency.

In the Democratic balloting, Wolff totaled 11,020 votes with 99.51 percent of the results having been reported to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, more than 2,500 more that Wegman, who finished in second place with 8,450 votes, and Quick, who tallied 7,616.

Meanwhile, the closer-to-home candidate, Halcovage, who chairs the Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners, lost by a landslide margin to Meuser, 26,568 to 12,032, while Uehlinger finished third with 11,541 votes, that being despite the fact that Meuser does not live in the district. A former PA Department of Revenue secretary under Gov. Tom Corbett, Meuser lives in Kingston Township, which is in the 8th Congressional District.

The Democratic totals showed Wolff winning in six of the eight counties that comprise the new 9th District. The district encompasses all of Carbon and Schuylkill counties, as well as balloting in parts of Berks, Columbia, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montour and Northumberland counties.

Wolff won the Carbon balloting with 1,198 votes, compared to Wegman’s 777 and Quick’s 729. In Schuylkill, the successful nominee tallied 2,644 votes, over 800 more than Wegman’s 1,819 and 1,000 more than Quick, who had 1,623.

Other county breakdowns for the three Democratic candidates included:

Berks – Wegman, 4,311, Quick, 1,776, Wolff, 1,269.

Columbia – Wolff, 2,191, Wegman, 321, Quick, 263.

Lebanon – Quick, 2,375, Wolff, 932, Wegman, 647.

Luzerne – Wolff, 1,245, Quick, 396, Wegman, 283.

Montour – Wolff, 657, Quick, 117, Wegman, 81.

Northumberland, Wolff, 884, Quick, 337, Wegman, 211.

In the GOP balloting, Meuser won six of the eight counties, losing to Halcovage in Schuylkill by a margin of 5,895 to 5,071, with Uehlinger getting 1,006. The latter won Berks with 5,874 votes, compared to 3,796 for Meuser and 1,501 for Halcovage.

The successful nominee’s margins of victory in the other counties were dominant, including in Carbon County where Mueser’s total of 2,870 was over 2,000 more than Halcovage’s 767 and Uehlinger’s 377.

He also won big in Luzerne and Lebanon County, where his margins of victory were over 3,000 and 2,500, respectively. In Lebanon County, Meuser won with 5,668 votes, easily outdistancing Uehlinger, who finished second with 3,298, and Halcovage, who was third with 1,930 votes. In Luzerne County, Meuser collected 3,808 votes, a sizeable number compared to Halcovage’s 433 and Uehlinger’s 260.

Other county breakdowns for the three Republican candidates included:

Berks County – Uehlinger, 5,874, Meuser, 3,796, Halcovage, 1,501.

Columbia County – Meuser, 3,279, Halcovcage, 745, Uehlinger, 439.

Montour – Meuser, 1,095, Halcovage, 229, Uehlinger, 179.

Northumberland – Meuser, 981, Halcovage, 532, Uehlinger, 108.

The district race was set up by a PA Supreme Court ruling that came down on Feb. 19, 2018, when the court adopted a new congressional district map after ruling that the original map drafted by the Republican-controlled state legislature constituted an illegal partisan gerrymander.