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Smith Defeats Raja In State Senate Race

Three incumbent state senators from southwestern Pennsylvania won reelection and a suburban Pittsburgh state representative is moving from the House to the Senate.

Matt Smith beats D. Raja in Senate District 37

(Source)

Senate district 37 garnered much attention during the campaign as Democratic Representative Matt Smith and Republican D. Raja vied to fill the seat left vacant due to the resignation in July of Republican John Pippy.

With 96% of precincts reporting in district 37:

  • Smith: 63,436 or 52.9%
  • Raja: 56,489 or 47.1%

Smith also won reelection to his House seat and there will have to be a special election in the 42nd district once he resigns that post.

Senate District 35: Wozniak a Winner

Democratic incumbent John Wozniak garnered a fifth four-year term in the state Senate by defeating Republican Timothy Houser in a close race.

(Source)

  • Wozniak: 44,499 or 51.2%
  • Houser: 42,353 or 48.8%

Senate District 39: Kim Ward Wins by 4-1 Margin

(Source)

Republican State Senator Kim Ward cruised to victory for a second four year term with an easy win over independent Ron Gazze.

  • Ward: 88,833 or 87%
  • Gazze: 13,254 or 13%

Senate District 47: Incumbent Elder Vogel Wins a Second Term

(Source)

Republican Elder Vogel, Jr., who has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 2008, had a comfortable victory over Democratric challenger Kimberly Villella to win a second term in office.

  • Vogel: 57,298 or 57.1%
  • Villellla: 43,104 or 42.9%

PA House

A little more than half of the 203 state House elections were contested today. 108 of the districts had at least two candidates on the ballot. Of the 23 House elections in the Pittsburgh area only 10 were contested.

(Source)

House District 16: Matzie is Reelected

Democratic incumbent Robert Matzie won another term in the state House by defeating Republican challenger Kathy Coder.

  • Matzie: 15,476 or 56.4%
  • Coder:  11,975 or 43.6%

(Source)

House District 20: Another Win for Another Ravenstahl

Democrat Adam Ravenstahl, has been a member of the House since June 2010, and Tuesday night he won another two years in office by defeating  Jim Barr, the only Constitution Party candidate on the ballot in Pennsylvania.  Adam Ravenstahl is the younger brother of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

  • Ravenstahl: 19,028 or 81.8%
  • Barr: 4,245 or 18.2%

House District 22: Democrats Hold Onto Seat

Erin Molchany has won her race over Republican opponent Chris Cratsley. She will succeed Democrat Martin Schmotzer who won a special election April 24 of this year to serve out the last 8 months of the term of Chelsa Wagner who resigned her House seat after she was elected Allegheny County Controller. However, Schmotzer lost the Democratic primary contest to Erin Molchany to run for a full two-year term.

(Source)

  • Molchany: 16,855 or 65.4%
  • Cratsley: 8,904 or 34.6%

House District 25: Veteran Lawmaker Wins Again

Democrat Joe Markosek of Monroeville has served in the Pennsylvania House since 1982 and he won 16th two year term in office by defeating his Republican opponent Mike Doyle, not the longtime Congressman, but rather the Plum Borough Council president.

(Source)

  • Markosek: 15,272 or 54.8%
  • Doyle:  12,575 or 45.2%

House District 30: English Over Tusick

Republican Hal English will be filling the seat left vacant by the resignation of Randy Vulakovich who won a special election to serve out the last two-and-a half years of the state Senate term of Jane Orie who resigned the seat following her conviction on public corruption charges.  English, an attorney from Hampton, defeated Democrat David Tusick of Fox Chapel.

  • English: 18,718 votes or 56.7%
  • Tusick: 14,289 votes or 43.3%

(Source)

House District 39:

This contests pitted the current incumbent, Republican Rick Saccone of Elizabeth against the former incumbent, Democrat Dave Levdansky of Forward Township. Levdansky served 26 years in the state House before being upset by Saccone in November 2010 by just 150 votes.  

  • Levdanksy: 13,937 or 50.1%
  • Saccone: 13,873 or 49.9%

(Source)

House District 44: Mustio Maintains His Seat

Republican incumbent Representative Mark Mustio of North Fayette has won reelection after losing his bid for the GOP nomination for state Senate in the April primary. Mustio has served eight years in the state House and defeated Democrat Mark Scappe an engineering consultant from Moon Township and former member of the Moon Area School Board.

  • Mustio: 20,177 or 61.9%
  • Scappe: 12,445 or 38.1%

(Source)

Two other contested races in the state House in southwestern Pennsylvania featured a win by a veteran lawmaker and a Greene County Commissioner.

House District 45: Kotik Wins

Democratic Representative Nick Kotik earned another two years inb office with a victory over Republican challenger Aaron Kime.

Kotik:  18,835 or 66.2%

Kime:  9,617 or 33.8%

House District 50: Snyder Replaces DeWeese

Greene County Commissioner Pam Snyder defeated Republican opponent Mark FIscher by a 3-2 margin to win the seat held by long-time Representative and former House Speaker Bill DeWeese who was sentenced in April for his conviction on public corruption charges.

Snyder:  12,645 or 61.9%

Fischer:  7,774 or 38.1%