State Senator Jim Brewster will be sworn in this morning after a federal judge ruled that he won the election for the 45th District Senate Seat.
Brewster was defending his seat in the general election against Republican Challenger Nicole Ziccarelli, an attorney from New Kensington in Westmoreland County. While the state certified Brewster’s victory, Ziccarelli challenged the results in court, saying that ballots that were not properly dated in Allegheny County were counted towards Brewster’s total, and if those votes were not counted, she would have won. In his 14-page opinion, Federal Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan said that her argument failed because it revolved solely around the ballots in Allegheny County being invalid, which in his opinion, were not. That upheld a previous decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Shortly after the verdict was announced, Ziccarelli officially conceded the election, saying that she disagreed with the results, but felt that the time had come for people in the 45th Senate district to support Brewster in his work. He will be sworn in at 11:00 this morning.
