Even after the governor’s race had been called for Tom Wolf by several major networks, Gov. Tom Corbett’s wife, Susan, addressed supporters, assuring them the night was young, and her husband would come back to win.
That didn’t happen – and shortly before 10 p.m. Tom Corbett addressed a crowd gathered at a downtown Pittsburgh hotel to concede the race.
“The privilege of serving as your governor for the last four years is quite an honor, it’s the honor of a lifetime,” Corbett said.
Corbett said he called Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf to concede defeat and congratulated him on a well-fought fight for Pennsylvania's highest office.
“We’ve had a very energetic campaign," Corbett said. "He has prevailed and I wish him the best.”
Wolf's victory makes Corbett the first governor to be denied a second term in the 40 years that governors have been allowed to serve two terms. Corbett thanked a long list of supporters, family, friends and colleagues and highlighted his accomplishments as governor. He said he’s kept all the promises he made in the 2010 governor’s race.
“When I made those promises, I said I was going to do what is right for Pennsylvania, the tough decision and people may not like it," Corbett said. "Well obviously, they didn’t like it. I said I may be a one-term governor, and I am. But I am proud of what we did, what we all did.”
Corbett said his administration cut waste in state government, reduced state spending for the first time in 40 years and put the state's economy on the right track. Corbett, a former two-term state attorney general, has been plagued by low approval ratings and had been lagging in all major polls leading up to the election.
