Posted on 11/04/2009 6:17:31 AM PST by St. Louis Conservative
HARRISBURG - Joan Orie Melvin, a Republican judge from Western Pennsylvania, prevailed in the Philadelphia suburbs yesterday to claim a decisive win in the hard-fought battle for a vacancy on the state Supreme Court. Melvin's victory shifts the political balance on the state's most powerful bench to Republican, and could portend a re-energized conservative base in the 2010 gubernatorial and congressional elections.
With 91 percent of ballots counted, Melvin had won every suburban county around Philadelphia except Montgomery, where Democrat Jack Panella of Easton led by only a few hundred votes.
"It's clear to me she won because of the wins in the Philadelphia suburbs, and that's something other Republican statewide candidates have not been able to do in recent years," said G. Terry Madonna, professor and pollster at Franklin and Marshall College.
Melvin, 53, a Superior Court judge from Allegheny County, and Panella, 54, a Superior Court judge from Northampton County, mounted costly campaigns that featured a particularly hostile TV advertising war in the final weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Time for Fast Eddie Rendel to retire.
This is hugh!
And the good news continues.
This is a wonderful win.
Series too. Are you in the shower yet?
Now I come to FreeRepublic for local news too.
Here in PA we’ve been watching the Supremes in NJ and MA rubber-stamp outrageous Democrat moves at power grabbing and table tilting. We’ve decided no thanks, not here!
More good news - thank you!
I think it is. She’s the main reason I voted yesterday.
This is a great win for all us NRA members as well.
Not once in this crappy article does it state what the winning margin was. This is journalism in America, 2009.
The trial lawyers and unions pumped big money into Panella's campaign. He ran lots of TV ads in the Philly market. I was driving through Philly on Friday night and saw a huge Panella billboard that had to cost a pretty penny.
A lot of Republicans won in lower races in many states. Judges, town supervisors, county legislators, etc. Conservatives/Republicans need to establish a good foundation at the local level in parallel with the high profile races.
Agreed, but I'm sure the Democrat reporter is in denial...
Melvin won 53% to 47%.
The Rats where going to try to overturn the “Defense Of Marriage Act” in Pennsylvania if Panella won, figuring they would control the state supreme court and try to ram through homosexual marriage.
I predict that in Maine, the queers will ignore the will of the people and try to push it through the courts as well.
Pennsylvania had a very good night. Not only Melvin, but other judicial races. From what I saw on the Sec State’s site, 6 of 7 statewide judicial races went Republican. In Montgomery County, which has leaned ever more leftward, 6 of 7 Common Pleas judicial races went GOP. I think these are very important developments. Our township still elected a bunch of Dems to local positions, and our school board races were unopposed cross-filed candidates. So it goes - our township is full of upper middle class liberals and tends to pull the D lever. I’m happy for the state and the county results. This can’t be making Arlen Specter too happy . . .
This is a huge win out of the Philly area especially. I am getting happier and happier at what is happening.
It appears that the Republicans are going to sweep (with the possible exception of one seat) all of the statewide court races in Pennsylvania.
Absolutely. I've begun to see these off-year races as the more important ones.
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