Incumbent state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, appeared victorious in his reelection campaign according to incomplete returns as of midnight.

Hutchinson, who has served in that seat since 2012, had received more than 83,000 votes, while his Democratic challenger, Shelbie Stromyer of Oil City, tallied about 24,000 votes across the five-county 21st District. In Butler County alone, Hutchinson received more than 37,500 votes compared with 10,206 for Stromyer.

Current results are unofficial and do not include all mail-in ballots.

Hutchinson and Stromyer campaigned on seemingly completely separate issues, with Hutchinson focusing on economic issues facing 21st District constituents, while Stromyer zeroed in on a mixture of environmental and educational issues.

Despite this being Hutchinson's third elected term, he still said he appreciates the voters who believe he is the best representative of their views and beliefs.

“Even though I've been in office for a long time, I'm so humbled to have the confidence of the people that I represent,” he said. “It's a very humbling and high honor.”

And while Stromyer has so far received just 22% of the vote, she said she is proud of the progress she made in bringing attention to her campaign and the issues she raised.

“We started with a campaign that had no money, no backing, no nothing,” she said. “I ended up being endorsed by just about every nursing organization and union in the state of Pennsylvania, I ended up being endorsed by women's organizations. We had the younger generation and the older generation fighting this battle at the same time.”

Hutchinson said he will return to the General Assembly focused on the “need to open up” the state's economy following state-mandated shutdowns to stem the tide of COVID-19. But, he said, that's part of a larger theme — to bring back economic vitality to Western Pennsylvania.