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The Rats are shovel-ready for the dust bin of history.
Posted on 11/03/2010 1:02:24 AM PDT by 11th_VA
HARRISBURG - Republicans riding the wave of anti-incumbent sentiment took control of both chambers of the legislature on Tuesday.
Retaining its grip on the Senate and unseating enough Democrats to get a majority in the House, the GOP could look forward to ruling the General Assembly as well as the governor's office, soon to be occupied by Tom Corbett.
Voters swept out veterans in both parties Tuesday, including the House majority leader, Todd Eachus (D., Luzerne), and former House GOP leader John M. Perzel (R., Phila.), the latter running with the added burden of facing criminal charges.
In the House, Republican candidates wiped out the narrow margin of seats that had kept Democrats on top for the last four years. Controlling both chambers gives the GOP a formidable one-two punch when it comes to dictating the legislative agenda - not to mention a favorite partisan plum, the redrawing of congressional district boundaries next year as part of reapportionment.
"It's huge," said G. Terry Madonna, veteran political scientist and pollster at Franklin and Marshall College. "The Republicans are in the catbird seat as far as the substance of legislation for the next two years.
"The big question is, will they go along with Tom Corbett's agenda, which includes a lot of program and budget cuts?"
As midnight approached, House Republican campaign officials predicted they would win as many as 110 or 112 seats in the 203-member lower chamber when the dust settled and the absentee votes were counted.
In the House, Republicans gained ground in Philadelphia's suburbs and exurbs, taking at least five seats that were either up for grabs or held by Democrats.
Republican Todd Stephens, for instance, picked off Democratic incumbent Rep. Rick Taylor of Montgomery County; and in Delaware County, Republican Joe Hackett won the state House seat that incumbent Bryan Lentz had given up to run a losing race for Congress. Hackett beat Democrat Walt Waite.
Republicans also took back House seats in the suburbs that had been held by Democrats Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Tom Houghton, and Paul Drucker of Chester County.
"We had good candidates and worked hard on the ground," said Rep. Dave Reed (R., Indiana), chairman of the House Republican campaign committee. "And we recognized that some seats were won after the [2005 legislative] pay raise or the Obama win, and that we had a chance to take those."
"The time for politics is over," Johnna Pro, spokeswoman for House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, a longtime Democratic powerhouse from Philadelphia, said last night. "It is now time to govern. We have serious challenges in Pennsylvania, and we have to work together to overcome those challenges for the people of the state."
A lone bright spot for suburban Democrats came in a Delaware County race where Margo Davidson prevailed over Republican challenger Maureen Carey for the House seat that had been held by longtime Rep. Mario Civera.
Who will lead the new majority and minority in the House is up in air. Eachus, who was first elected House majority leader in 2006 and had served in the House for 13 years, was unexpectedly toppled Tuesday by GOP challenger Tarah Toohil in Luzerne County.
Republicans also won the seat of the retiring House speaker, Keith McCall (D., Carbon).
In Philadelphia, one result signaled the end of an era: former House Speaker Perzel, facing trial in the so-called Bonusgate scandal, fell to Democratic challenger Kevin Boyle.
Perzel, who had represented Northeast Philadelphia for 32 years, rose to leadership posts before sliding to backbencher status after Republicans lost House control amid fallout from the infamous 2005 legislative pay raise. The final blow came this year when Perzel was charged in the Bonusgate corruption investigation.
Criminal charges apparently failed to topple former House Democratic leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene), who was winning reelection to a 17th term despite also facing trial on charges indirectly arising from the same scandal.
Fifteen incumbents in the Senate faced challengers, but in that chamber, Republicans gained a few seats and emerged with a comfortable 30-20 majority.
Among the winners was Republican Sen. Jane Orie (R., Allegheny). She, too, was re-elected despite facing public corruption charges.
HUGH! PA is again a Red State!
Remember 2008 when Sarah Palin said (not intended to be an exact quote...) “wait a sec, let’s not count PA out?” Obama eventually won the state but we see there is hope for the state once controlled by Ed rendell.
Can’t wait for all the wonderful results that will come from this election! Yes, that was sarcastic...
The most important thing though, is ripping and gutting the corrupt casey/rendel fraud voting machine............
If Penn goes red in 2012, Obama has no prayer in Mecca.............
Fantastic. Now PLEASE do not give yourself a raise again in the middle of the night. That is how they lost it last time. I believe they learned their lesson. Of course this is a different group of folks who would not do something like that. Of course it was dumb for Pennsylvanian to elect Democrats just because of that one error in judgement. I remember when the voters elected the Dems. It did not take long for them to know that they made a huge mistake.
"The big question is, will they go along with Tom Corbett's agenda, which includes a lot of program and budget cuts?"
They better and Corbett better be as tough as Governor Christie. Tougher even...since unlike in NJ's case, both houses are now Republican.
Ping!
That’s one vote that the People should have complete say over.
I am so happy for you, PA!!! Hold their feet to the fire! Don’t relax! How I wish we had even gotten a red Senator, so ENJOY your victory for those of us stuck in blue (CA).
In PA Philly is like LA but everything else is more like Alabama.
“If the state GOP has any brains (debatable), it’ll dismantle the dem crook machine, while also redistricting the states congressional make up.
The most important thing though, is ripping and gutting the corrupt casey/rendel fraud voting machine............ “
Damn right! It’s time for Repubs taking over state houses across the country to get off their asses and clean these states up. We’re not sending you guys there just to “occupy” the office.
And of course, our work is only beginning. We need to hold all these politicians’ feet to the fire and make sure they do what we sent them there to do.
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The Rats are shovel-ready for the dust bin of history.
Now that the republicans control redistricting, they need to draw friendlier lines to hold has many seats as possible.
Hooyeah! First thing they should do is lift the ban on drilling for Marcellus shale gas on public lands! Put Pennsylvanians to work!
ping
Our candidates and their teams worked hard, and earned their victories. They are now challenged to go to Harrisburg and Washington and stay strong and lead our nation and our state wisely.
I am disappointed that our US House candidate, Dee Adcock, did not prevail against Allyson Schwartz. He ran a strong campaign, worked hard with integrity, and came up short in a very tough race. The district boundaries worked against him, as did her funding advantage, incumbency and Dem registration advantage. We can't win every race, but there's 2012 . . .
Isn’t it great:) WOOOOOHOOOO
Repeal Obamacare immediately I am hoping, set the example for the rest of the country.
If I had to choose, I’d pick a Toomey win / Adcock loss than vice versa.
Still, Dee losing is hard to take. I cannot stand the carpetbagger Schwartz.
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