Pennsylvania went red in the 2010 midterm election, putting Republican Tom Corbett, the former state attorney general, into the governor's seat, succeeding Democrat Ed Rendell. The Department of State Election Returns reports Corbett had 54.5 percent of the vote over Dan Onorato's 45.5 percent.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Corbett, a "no-tax" extremist, has pledged not to raise state taxes or fees. Taking office at a time of fiscal crisis, Corbett vows to cure it with budget cuts and business growth "down the road." One contentious issue during the campaign was the taxing of gas drillers in upstate Pennsylvania, which Corbett opposed, making Pennsylvania the only state that doesn't tax gas drillers. Pennsylvania has a $3 billion to $4 billion shortfall in its pension payments and is facing large general-budget deficits.
Corbett has not itemized the cuts he plans, and his "no tax/fees" stance is liable to make this deficit worse. Corbett joined Pennsylvania in a constitutional challenge to the Obama health-care legislation. His pledge against taxes or fees on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale was criticized by the Democrats and a few Republicans, including former Gov. Tom Ridge, who said that a severance tax was reasonable. Residents in the drilling areas, and Marcellus Shale areas, expressed concern over trucks ruining the roads and fear environmental problems, for which the state will end up paying. Corbett's unfamiliarity with state government issues like transportation, the environment and energy could prove problematic, and he was vilified for his statement that people would rather collect unemployment than work.
The AP reports that, in a ferocious Senate race, Republican Pat Toomey garnered 51 percent of the vote to best Democrat Joe Sestak's 49 percent. Toomey succeeded Arlen Specter in the Senate in one of the watched races in the country. Toomey, a former congressman, investment banker and restaurateur, defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, concentrating on his liberal voting record and White House ties. Toomey is a strict free-market advocate and will concentrate on cutting spending and deficits, repealing the federal health care law passed this year, and extending the Bush-era tax cuts.
Toomey told supporters: "Wealth and prosperity come from men and women who get up every day and go to work." Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is at 8.9 percent, which Toomey pounded at, arguing that Sestak and his support for Obama's policies were to blame, ignoring the fact that the entire country was suffering high unemployment as a direct result of the September 2008 financial crisis.
Democrat Allison Schwartz of the 13th Congressional district was re-elected to her seat in Congress with 56.4 percent of the vote, and Mike Fitzpatrick regained his 8th District congressional seat over Patrick Murphy, corralling 54 percent over Murphy's 46 percent of the vote.
Noteworthy in the 172nd district, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports an upset victory by Democrat rising star Brendan Boyle over 30-year incumbent Republican state representative John Perzel, presently under indictment in the "Bonusgate" scandal. Boyle garnered 53.8 percent of the vote over Perzel's 46.2 percent. Despite Boyle's win, the Republicans took the Pennsylvania statehouse.
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