Election turnout spiked across Pittsburgh as Democrats surged in Pa. and nationally

WASHINGTON — In a year when Democrats have fractured and debated endlessly about how to move forward in the enduring age of President Donald Trump, the results from Tuesday’s elections were strikingly uniform.

Across Pennsylvania and much of the country — from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, Richmond to New York — voters surged to the polls to give Democrats resounding victories.

Turnout increased by more than a third in Pittsburgh compared to the mayoral election four years ago.

It spiked by nearly two-thirds in the statewide retention election for three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices — a normally sleepy affair — compared to a competitive race for the same court in 2017, when a groundswell of new political activism was first emerging after Trump’s election.

Beyond Pennsylvania’s bord