Incumbent senator Chris Gebhard won the Republican primary election Tuesday for the 48th District Senate seat by a 2-1 margin over challenger Clovis Crane after a contentious campaign race.
The final count as reported by the Lebanon County Elections office was 10,248 votes for Gebhard, 5,129 for Crane, and 427 write-in votes. Candidate William Carroll of Jonestown ran a write-in campaign, but the results didn’t note for whom those 400-plus were cast.
The 48th district includes all of Lebanon County and portions of Berks and Lancaster counties. District-wide, Gebhard garnered 18,178 votes to Crane’s 8,800 votes.
Read More: Lebanon County 2026 primary election results
Gebhard learned he had won around 9:30 p.m. when the results were broadcast on a local television station on a TV positioned high above the main bar at Rotunda Brewery in Annville, site of a post-election gathering by the Gebhard campaign.
The election was contentious over bills proposing a tax on the skills game industry.
Gebhard has called for a 35% tax on skills games while Crane opposed that measure.
Gebhard has told LebTown previously that the proposal was a negotiating point since Gov. Josh Shapiro sought a 50%-plus tax on that industry, while Sen. Gene Yaw had introduced a bill calling for a much lower tax rate. More recently, Yaw has introduced Senate Bill 1079, which seeks a $500 monthly fee per skill game machine.
“I’ll tell you what, what an interesting 12 months it’s been,” said Gebhard, which elicited laughter from the packed room. “Yes, interesting. Not sure I would describe it as fun. It’s certainly interesting. But, I think what we proved tonight is that we can come together as a team in the Republican Party. And we can prove it to special interests no matter how much money they want to spend that we matter and we’re gonna win.”
Gebhard said in a LebTown exclusive interview immediately after his victory speech that special-interest groups supporting his opponent began to attack him a year ago. Calls to Crane’s campaign manager Fletcher Karper for comment about the campaign were not returned as of publication.
“They’ve been negatively campaigning against me for more than a year. The last two weeks was the one-year anniversary when they started going door to door, dropping negative mail against me, that being the skill game industry,” Gebhard said to LebTown.
When Gebhard entered the Rotunda Bar just before 9 p.m., he hoisted over his head a campaign sign from the opposition that had been placed all over Lebanon County. The victory hoist was greeted with loud applause, cheers and people yelling, “four more years!” since it was apparent Gebhard had a large lead in the race.
“I saw it in the parking lot and thought I’d bring it in with me,” Gebhard told LebTown in between congratulatory wishes and hugs from his supporters.
Gebhard, who was first elected to office in 2021, did what amounted to a victory lap upon arrival, shaking hands with well-wishers who were positioned around the main indoor bar at the brewery.
When a local TV station flashed the results around 9:30 p.m. declaring Gebhard the winner by a 67% to 33% margin, a supporter pointed out the results, which led the barroom to erupt in loud cheers and applause.
Moments later, walking behind the bar, Gebhard gave his five-minute acceptance speech, being sure to thank his family for his support and what he called the tireless efforts of his campaign team.
“I mean, I am indebted to everybody in this room because you all played a part in this. I’ve had people coming up to me and saying, ‘Congratulations, you did it, you did it,’” said Gebhard. “It wasn’t me, it was everyone in this room that made this happen. We don’t win with numbers like that if it isn’t everybody in this room doing their job and delivering the results that we have. So congratulations to everybody.”
Gebhard told LebTown he believes Republican voters looked beyond the single issue being supported by the Crane campaign and voted for a fellow Republican candidate.
“I think the results that you saw tonight is that Republicans want to vote for Republicans. They don’t want to vote for people that are opportunistic and just change their registration because it gives them a chance to run for something. They wanted to vote for Republicans,” Gebhard said.
Gebhard concluded his remarks by saying he was going to sleep well tonight.
Election Day in Lebanon County
Sean Drasher, director of the Lebanon County elections bureau, said turnout countywide was low on Tuesday.
“When I was out, we were looking at eight to 10% in some precincts. North Londonderry was looking at 25%. Jackson, some of the Jackson (precincts), were up higher to like 20 to 25%,” Drasher said. “I thought we were gonna have a better turnout. I was naive. I thought we were gonna have better numbers.”
He also noted the election ran smoothly.
“It was an out of the park home run. That’s my quote. It was an out of park home run. I couldn’t be happier,” Drasher said.
101st and 102nd House seats
Republican incumbents John Schlegel (101st) and Russ Diamond (102nd) ran unopposed and won their respective district races.
98th District House Race
Nikki Woods, a Lancaster County Clerk of Courts official, defeated two-term Elizabethtown school board member Danielle Lindemuth by a 3-1 margin for the GOP nomination for the 98th House District.
The 98th district is predominantly in Lancaster County but includes South Annville and South Londonderry townships and Mount Gretna Borough in Lebanon County. Woods received 930 votes to 501 for Lindemuth in those three municipalities.
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