Watson Coleman triumphs over perennial candidate Lisa McCormick

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) defeated perennial candidate Lisa McCormick Tuesday, putting an end to a race defined by the challenger’s shadowy campaign tactics.

The congresswoman won with 90% of the vote.

McCormick allegedly sent emails using the congresswoman’s campaign letter head in an attempt to trick voters into believing that Watson Coleman, likely the most progressive member of the state’s House delegation, backed President Donald Trump.

Watson Coleman in June asked authorities to investigate the emails after one shadowy email trafficked anti-Semitic tropes in an attempt to smear the congresswoman.

Earlier this week, Watson Coleman’s campaign told McCormick and Jim Devine, to preserve documents in a move that typically signals a coming lawsuit.

Similarly-deceptive messages were sent during McCormick’s 2017 bid for governor, her 2018 bid for U.S. Senate and her 2019 bid for Union County Surrogate. She roundly lost all three races and has routinely failed to file required documents with the Federal Election Commission.

Watson Coleman will face Republican Mark Razzoli in November. The district is safely Democratic.

Vote tallies do not include uncounted mail-in ballots received by Tuesday, late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday, provisional ballots that won’t be counted for at least a week and mail-in ballots that were disqualified but may be cured at a later date.