Wednesday, November 08, 2006
2006 Voting Results
2006 General Election Results (unofficial)
Results available through Pennsylvania Department of State
Political Shift in Washington
Bob Casey, Jr. defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. On Tuesday night, Sen. Santorum conceded to Casey and thanked Pennsylvanians for the opportunity to serve as their United States Senator. As of early Wednesday morning, Casey has received 2,251,813 votes compared to Santorum’s 1,581,512 votes*.
Similar to the U.S. House, there may be a shift in control of the U.S. Senate. Democrats had 44 members in the Senate, and Republicans had a 55-seat majority prior to the elections. As votes are still being counted in Montana and Virginia, to determine the election of 6 key Senate races in the nation (Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia), some political insiders are predicting that there will be a 50/50 split in the Senate.
Included in this potential shift in the Senate is the election of 2 elected Independents (including former Democrat Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, current Independent Party Senator elect).
After much speculation, the unofficial results of many races across the nation show that the Democrats have taken control of the U.S. House. Reports are showing that there will be 228 Democrats (with 4 races to be confirmed) and 193 Republicans (with 10 races to be confirmed) serving as U.S. Representatives.
In our region incumbents have retained their seats: Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Holden was able to defeat Republican challenger Matthew Wertz 135,235 to 73,785. Holden’s retention will be beneficial to Pennsylvanians with Democratic leadership as he serves on the House Agriculture and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R), also defeated Democratic challenger Tony Barr 115,169 to 76,222. Shuster’s district includes much of Central Pennsylvania, including parts of Cumberland and Perry Counties. Shuster also serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Todd Platts defeated his Democratic opponent Philip Avillo, Jr. and Green Party challenger Derf W. Maitland with 142,092 votes to their respective 74,388 and 5,616. Todd is another member of the Central Pennsylvania Congressional delegation that serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Current Minority House Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) is currently working in her party to develop the House’s legislative agenda for next year.
And in Pennsylvania…
Pennsylvania has also had its share of upsets in the Pennsylvania General *bleep*. Not included in these upsets is the retention of Gov. Ed Rendell (D) with 2,320,768 votes (60.3%) compared to Republican challenger Lynn Swann’s 1,528,648 votes (39.7%)*.
It appears that the Republicans may maintain control of the House, but this will be with a much slimmer majority. Results are still expected in some races in Pennsylvania to decide who will control the House. However, there has been one change in leadership for the House Democratic party: Minority Whip Mike Veon (D-Allegheny County) was defeated by his Republican challenger Jim Marshall by 8,992 votes to 10,511 votes.
In our tri-county region, some incumbents retained their seats by virtue of running unopposed and receiving 100% of the votes--Rep. Mark Keller (R-Perry County), Rep. David S. Hickernell (R-Dauphin County), and Rep. John Payne (R-Dauphin County).
Incumbent Republicans (Rep. Glen Grell, Rep. Rob Kauffman, Rep. Ron Marsico, Rep. Jerry Nailor, and Rep. Will Gabig) in Cumberland and Dauphin Counties were able to retain their seats by defeating their challengers on the ballot. What is interesting to note is that both Marsico and Nailor are expected to hold a Chair position for a House committee when the *bleep* reconvenes in the next session. Rep. Ron Buxton (D-Dauphin County) was also able to defeat his challenger in his bid to retain his seat.
Sen. Jake Corman (R-Perry County) has retained his seat after defeating three challengers, Jon Eich (D), Thomas A. Martin (Libertarian), and Robert J. Cash (VFC).
Following elections and the closing of the current legislative session, the Pennsylvania Senate will soon select its leadership to replace the departing Sen. Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer and Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill. It has been rumored that Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin County) may be in a position to move into a higher leadership post.
Open Seats Are Filled
In the open seats for our region, Republican candidate Mike Folmer has received 52,202 votes to defeat his Democratic challenger John Liss’ 30,436 votes. Republican candidate Sue Helm defeated her Democratic opponent Dennis Coffman with 12,629 votes to his 9,685. Republican candidate Scott Perry also defeated his Democratic opponent with 16,047 votes to 6,589 votes.
Referendum Question
In addition to the election of representatives, Pennsylvanians found a question on the ballot requesting approval of the Commonwealth to incur indebtedness of up to $20 million to pay for the compensation of service for soldiers in the Persian Gulf Conflict in 1990-91. Statewide results showed a majority supported this measure with 1,946,795 voting in the affirmative and 1,230,005 opposed.
*All results are based on unofficial election returns with 95.78% of Pennsylvania districts reporting
Emailed from Harrisburg Regional Chamber 8 Nov 2006
