First, it was nice to see pockets of heavy voter turnout, and people taking their responsibility seriously.
Below is a picture of people lined up to vote, just after 7 AM, in Fairview Twp., Luzerne County.
I covered the 11th Congressional District race yesterday, so let's start there. I took the pictures you see here-- Mr. and Mrs. Kanjorski arriving at their polling place in Nanticoke, and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta voting at one of his city's fire houses. I talked to Kanjorski on the day of the primary,an election he won with less than fifty per cent of the vote, and I think he knew then it would be an up hill battle to be re-elected. Mid term elections usually go against the party in power and it was destined to be a Republican year. Kanjorski is a smart man, but he really made some mistakes here. Kanjorski avoided town meetings and meeting people face to face. It hurt. He gave a good and insightful interview yesterday morning, and if people had seen that Kanjorski during the campaign, the outcome might have been different. I don't think people really dislike Paul Kanjorski, but they felt 26 years in office is long enough. Lou Barletta admitted to me that learned from past mistakes and missteps during the campaign two years ago. He didn't have to swim against the Obama wave this time around. The outcome is clear-- Mr. Barletta goes to Washington.
In the 10th, Tom Marino defeated incumbent Chris Carney. Carney was the accidental congressman. In his first election, be heat an incumbent who allegedly assaulted his mistress. In his second, he defeated a candidate who was the result of a bruising and divisive Republican primary. There were mistakes in the third campaign, and it cost him. The Carney people chose to attack Marino on one issue. Apparently, people don't care who Marino worked for in the past. Carney didn't do enough "here's who I am and what I stand for" ads. The mix was all wrong.
Tara Toohill beat state house majority leader Todd Eachus last night. Eachus has some fingerprints on the Bonusgate scandal, although he hasn't been charged. We repeatedly pressed him for answers, and never got them. Eachus also has an association with some of the individuals involved in the Luzerne County corruption scandal, and it cost him his job. Money should have been a clue. The vast majority of Eachus' campaign money came from out of the district while Toohill raised her money in the area. If the locals weren't donating, you knew you were in trouble.
Staying in Luzerne County, the home rule charter question passed easily. Three commissioners out, in favor of a county council and an appointed manager. Blame this one on Greg Skrepenak the crooked judges, and the dead wood at the courthouse. People lost their faith in county government. It's as simple as that. The commissioners got fired last night. While there are many good, decent, and hard working people in county government, the referendum's victory shows people want the current courthouse crowd swept out.
What happened to Dan Onorato? He had tremendous momentum coming out of the primary, and quickly lost it. Tom Corbett, who ran a solid campaign, is the next governor. He inherits a lot of problems in January. The state has no money. I looked at the numbers from the northern tier, Marcellus Shale country. Corbett opposes a severance tax on the drillers. Republicans normally do well up north, and Corbett was no exception. With 98 per cent of the vote in, it was close, but Onorato lost his home county-- Allegheny. That says a lot. If you're not popular at home, and you can't bank all those votes, it's trouble.
Republican Pat Toomey narrowly defeated Democrat Joe Sestak in the race for senate. It was a typical Pennsylvania night-- the Democrat pulls out to an early lead because the first votes come from the big cities-- Democratic strongholds. When the rest of Pennsylvania returns are in, the Republican usually gets close, or goes ahead. Purely anecdotal evidence, but this was a tough race for a lot of people I spoke with. Toomey was too far right. Sestak was too far left. Toomey squeaked by.
The Toomey and Corbett wins are even more impressive after you look at the vote from Philadelphia. Both got CRUSHED! It meant they had to make up a ton of votes in the rest of the state, and they did it.
I will close by saying this was the nastiest election cycle in history, and this year's record will likely be broken two years from now.
