PHILADELPHIA _ Democrats said the Philadelphia region would play a key role in their campaign to win control of the U.S. House _ and they were right.
In the most-anticipated midterm election in recent history, Democrats gained four seats in the area, according to reports early Wednesday. Women made up the majority of those winners.
Analysts on both sides of the aisle had anticipated that voters would use the midterms to render a verdict on President Trump.
"When the economy is as strong as it is, for Democrats to take back the House" would be a "referendum on Trump," said former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon, a lawyer, defeated Republican Pearl Kim, a former prosecutor, in Delaware County. Democrat Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran who ran against tax lawyer Greg McCauley, was declared the winner in Chester County.
In Montgomery County's Fourth District, State Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat, was called the victor by the Associated Press, turning aside businessman Dan David.
Democrat Susan Wild, a former city solicitor, won in the Lehigh Valley's Seventh District vs. Republican Marty Nothstein, an Olympic gold medalist.
In New Jersey's Second Congressional District, Democrat Jeff Van Drew came out ahead in a closer-than-expected race against Republican Seth Grossman, according to the Associated Press.
Brian Sokel, a 44-year-old Montgomery County resident, was one of the Pennsylvania voters who cast a ballot for Democrats.
"I would have voted for a head of cabbage against anything that was Donald Trump," he said, adding that the president has capitalized on "fear and hatred."
In Chesterfield, Richard Loninger held a different philosophy. He voted to maintain the direction our country is heading in, a direction that he said we've only recently turned toward.
"Values have been re-established that our forefathers initiated," Loninger, 50, said. "Low taxes, less government, more freedom, and less intrusive government. The bottom line is that it's leftism versus liberty."
In Pennsylvania, which currently has an all-male delegation, four of the Democrats heading to the House for the first time are women.
Nimra Khan, a 25-year-old Bucks County voter, said she voted for all Democratic candidates "because I have a uterus."
Across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, there were reports Tuesday of extraordinarily high turnout for a midterm election.
Democratic congressional candidates in the region sought to tie their opponents to Trump, while talking up issues such as health-care reform and gun control. The area's Republicans touted their bipartisan bona fides and painted their opponents as extremists with ties to people such as cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Voters in the nation's battleground districts said Trump and health care were the most important issues in the election, according to preliminary data from a Washington Post-Schar School poll.
One Republican who didn't get hit by a "blue wave" was Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. He survived a challenge by Democrat Scott Wallace, a multimillionaire philanthropist who invested at least $8 million of his own money in the race.
Fitzpatrick ran as a moderate Republican, highlighting his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act and winning support from the area's powerful labor unions.
"The message is that Brian Fitzpatrick has developed his own identity and brand, and that he very much reflects the values and interests of Bucks County," said Republican Charlie Dent, a former Lehigh Valley congressman who resigned this year. "That's why he would prevail in spite of this atrocious political environment."
The race for Bucks County's First District was one of the most closely watched and expensive in the nation, costing at least $26 million.
In Pennsylvania's Tenth District, Republican incumbent Scott Perry fought off a challenge from Democrat George Scott.
Democrat Mikie Sherill, a former Navy pilot and former federal prosecutor, prevailed over Republican Jay Webber in New Jersey's 11th District, according to news reports.
Grossman was abandoned by the national Republican Party after controversial comments about race and diversity.
U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur ended his Election Night party without speaking Tuesday night and a representative said the race was too close to call against Democrat Andy Kim.
"Ocean County gave Tom MacArthur a 30,000-plus victory margin, but unfortunately Burlington County was not so kind," said Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore. "But we think he's still ahead. But we will still have to count provisionals and absentee votes."
In Mount Laurel, Kim spokesman Forrest Rilling said the campaign wasn't going anywhere. "We're still here," he said. "We're still confident."
With 99 percent of the vote counted, results showed MacArthur with a lead of about 2,300 votes.
The fiercely fought contest pitted the two term incumbent MacArthur, 58, a former insurance executive and mayor of Randolph in North Jersey, against Kim, 36, a Rhodes scholar and national security adviser in the Obama administration who was raised in Marlton.
The night's split decision highlighted the divided South Jersey district that joins the Democrat-heavy Burlington County in Philadelphia's suburbs with the Republican and retiree stronghold of Ocean County, divided by the Pinelands.
Groups like South Jersey Women for Progressive Change and Action Together New Jersey, and its Burlington County spin-off, created after Trump's election, built extensive voter databases and organized canvassing alongside national groups like Swing Left.
In North Jersey's Seventh District, Democrat Tom Malinowski was declared the winner against Republican incumbent Leonard Lance in a district that includes Bedminster, home of Trump's golf club.
If their party takes control, House Democrats in the area said, infrastructure and health care would be at the top of their list of priorities.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, an incumbent who won in a solidly blue district, said "any effort to kill the Affordable Care Act" would be "dead."
Some Democrats even said they believe they could find common ground with Trump if they won the majority, particularly on legislation to repair the nation's roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.
"I don't care if he takes credit for it," said Rep. Matt Cartwright, who was re-elected in Pennsylvania's Eighth District. "It's the right thing for the country."
