Cook claims victory in 49th District

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Incumbent state Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, was claiming victory late Tuesday night in the 49th District.

Cook said his sources told him he successfully held off a primary challenge from Tony Bottino Jr., R-Carroll Township.

In Fayette County, with all seven districts reporting, unofficial results showed Cook held a 746-250 lead. Results from Washington County were not available four hours after the polls closed.

“When we went around in 2016, I knocked on every door, I went to the top of the mountain and I met with every farmer,” Cook said of his Fayette County numbers during his campaign party Tuesday at Mariners Hall in Dunlevy. “For the longest time, they didn’t feel like they were part of the 49th District.  We put the Mon Valley on the map. Harrisburg knows about the Mon Valley now.”

But Bottino wasn’t ready to concede defeat Tuesday night.

“We don’t have results from Washington County yet and the mail-in ballots aren’t in from Fayette County,” he said. “Washington County hasn’t told me anything. Prognostication is not one of my better things.”

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