2008 Woodie Awards
Penn. keep GOP majority
Faith Kirk
Issue date: 11/9/04 Section: News
While Pennsylvania went for Sen. John Kerry last week in the presidential election with 51 percent of the vote, Republican candidates won the local Senate and House races, an outcome that reflects the GOP majority nationally in both legislative bodies.
As projected, Republican incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter will return to a fifth term this year, retaining his seat with 53 percent of the vote. His challenger, Democrat Joe Hoeffel, lost with 42 percent of the vote, but surprised political analysts by gaining more votes than predicted. After winning the Republican primary against conservative Rep.
Pat Toomey by a narrow margin of two percentage points, Specter faced the most challenging campaign of his political career against Hoeffel, a three-term congressperson and former Montgomery County commissioner. When Specter returns to the Senate this year, he is expected to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving him considerable power in the reformation of the Supreme Court.
According to the Associated Press, exit polls showed thatalmost a quarter of people who voted Kerry in the presidential race split their ticket and voted for Specter in the Senate race. In the 6th District congressional race, Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach was re-elected to a second term, winning by a narrow margin with 51 percent of the vote.
He beat Democrat Lois Murphy, who received 49 percent of the vote. Early results actually called the race for Murphy, before 24 of the precincts had reported results.
This was the first time Murphy had run for office and she made a big splash onto the national scene as one of only four congressional candidates endorsed by MoveOn. org. However, Murphy has been a long time politicalinsider, running Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign in 2002.
The 6th District is composed of Chester, Montgomery, and Berks Counties and one precinct in Lehigh County. While it is usually predominately Republican, early results favored Democrats due to high voter turnout and registration this year. In the 156th District, Republican Elinor Z. Taylor returns to congress for her 14th consecutive term, winning against Democratic challenger Barbara McIlvane Smith with 55 percent of the vote. McIlvane Smith currently serves as vice president of the West Chester Borough Council.
As projected, Republican incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter will return to a fifth term this year, retaining his seat with 53 percent of the vote. His challenger, Democrat Joe Hoeffel, lost with 42 percent of the vote, but surprised political analysts by gaining more votes than predicted. After winning the Republican primary against conservative Rep.
Pat Toomey by a narrow margin of two percentage points, Specter faced the most challenging campaign of his political career against Hoeffel, a three-term congressperson and former Montgomery County commissioner. When Specter returns to the Senate this year, he is expected to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving him considerable power in the reformation of the Supreme Court.
According to the Associated Press, exit polls showed thatalmost a quarter of people who voted Kerry in the presidential race split their ticket and voted for Specter in the Senate race. In the 6th District congressional race, Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach was re-elected to a second term, winning by a narrow margin with 51 percent of the vote.
He beat Democrat Lois Murphy, who received 49 percent of the vote. Early results actually called the race for Murphy, before 24 of the precincts had reported results.
This was the first time Murphy had run for office and she made a big splash onto the national scene as one of only four congressional candidates endorsed by MoveOn. org. However, Murphy has been a long time politicalinsider, running Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign in 2002.
The 6th District is composed of Chester, Montgomery, and Berks Counties and one precinct in Lehigh County. While it is usually predominately Republican, early results favored Democrats due to high voter turnout and registration this year. In the 156th District, Republican Elinor Z. Taylor returns to congress for her 14th consecutive term, winning against Democratic challenger Barbara McIlvane Smith with 55 percent of the vote. McIlvane Smith currently serves as vice president of the West Chester Borough Council.
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