The Results from Tuesday’s General Election
Governor’s Race: Before 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported that Democrat Tom Wolf had defeated Republican Tom Corbett in the gubernatorial general election. By a margin of ten points, Wolf sailed to victory despite an overall disappointing night for both state and national Democratic candidates. 90.5 WESA’s Deanna Garcia reports that Corbett bowed out graciously late Tuesday night.
PA-3: Republican Mike Kelly defeated his opponent, Democrat Dan Lavallee, to secure a third term in office in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. 90.5 WESA’s Michael Lynch reports on Kelly’s future plans and Lavallee’s concession.
PA-6: When Rep. Jim Gerlach decided to step down from his 6th Congressional District seat, the race to see who would succeed him became a widely talked about affair. In the end, Republican Ryan Costello defeated three-time Democratic candidate Manan Trivedi. Winning by a comfortable margin, Ginger Rae Dunbar of The Daily Local News covers Costello’s victory speech and his future plans now that he has been elected.
PA-8: Republican Mike Fitzpatrick defeated his Democratic challenger Kevin Strouse in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District race. Fitzpatrick won a third term in Washington, and James McGinnis and Chris English of the Bucks County Courier Times report that, in the end, it wasn’t a close race.
PA-13: Republican Keith Rothfus won a second term in Congress Tuesday night, defeating Democratic challenger Erin McClelland in Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District. 90.5 WESA’s Larkin Page-Jacobs reports on Rothfus’s victory party and his plans for the future.
SD-32: With Democrat Rich Kasunic retiring after this year, his open seat went to Republican Patrick Stefano Tuesday night, 90.5 WESA’s Irina Zhorov reports. Stefano defeated current state Representative Deberah Kula.
HD-19: Democrat Jake Wheatley secured a seventh-consecutive term in Harrisburg with his big win over Independent challenger Mark Brentley in Pennsylvania’s 19th House District, reports 90.5 WESA’s Jess Lasky.
HD-20: Democrat Rep. Adam Ravenstahl won his reelection bid in Pennsylvania’s 20th House District, defeating Republican Tom Fodi, 90.5 WESA’s Sarah Schneider reports.
HD-39: Republican Rep. Rick Saccone defeated political newcomer Lisa Stout-Bashioum, a Democrat, in Pennsylvania’s 39th House District race, reports 90.5 WESA’s Liz Reid.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Republicans come up big in PA. Following the national trend, Pennsylvania House Republicans cleaned up on Tuesday, picking up 8 seats and strengthening their majority in the state House. PoliticsPA looks into those race outcomes and explains that not a single incumbent Republican lost in the general election.
How women voted and their lack of representation. 90.5 WESA’s Liz Reid dives into how women voted in Tuesday’s general election, while also covering Chatham University’s Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics post-election forum. Independent women voters widely voted for Tom Wolf, helping propel him to victory, Reid reports. The forum, aside from crunching numbers, also discussed how women are vastly underrepresented at every level of Pennsylvania politics.
Wolf won despite dip in midterm voters. Democrat Tom Wolf defeated Republican Tom Corbett despite a drop in the amount of votes casts when compared to 2010, 90.5 WESA’s Mary Wilson reports. Wolf “was strong where it mattered,” winning in Allegheny County, virtually sweeping in Philadelphia, and even winning in Centre County, where Corbett won in 2010 but lost by 15 points this time around. Despite the victory, Tom Wolf was not able to bring any Democrats into the state legislature with him.
The numbers: comparing 2010 to 2014. WHYY’s Dave Davies talks about Philadelphia’s Election Day turnout and its effect – or lack thereof – on the gubernatorial results. Davies also put together a spreadsheet comparing voter turnout and partisan voting patterns between 2010 and 2014.
Also...
Tom Wolf to leave Wolf Organization board. Now that he is the Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf is stepping down from his position as non-executive board chairman of The Wolf Organization.
And Now Back to Politics.
Senate Majority Leader Pileggi to see competition for reappointment. Since the election season is over, it is now time to get back to politics. And despite a putative coup by the Republican Party in the November general elections, the party is not totally satisfied with their representation going forward. A faction of Senate Republicans are supporting Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre) for majority leader, hoping to bring new leadership to the position that has been held by Sen. Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) for eight years, writes Early Returns’ Mike Pound.
