This Election Day was a busy one in Pennsylvania. Voters hit the polls to decide on the contests for governor, 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 25 state senators (those representing even-numbered districts) and all 203 representatives in the state House.

Governor:

With 98% of precincts reporting, Democratic challenger Tom Wolf defeated incumbent Republican Governor Tom Corbett 55 % to 45%. Since winning the Primary in May, Wolf consistently polled ahead of Gov. Corbett.  This is the first time an incumbent governor was defeated since Pennsylvania allowed governors to seek second terms under the 1968 Constitution.

U.S. House of Representatives

Heading into election night, the makeup of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation was 13 Republicans and five Democrats. Results of yesterday’s election show no change in party affiliation for any of those seats.

Pennsylvania Senate

Since 1980, Republicans have controlled the state Senate, with the exception of the 16-month period from November of 1992 through March of 1994. After picking up three seats in the 2012 elections, Democrats were hopeful to gain at least two more this year, which would tie the membership of Democrats and Republicans at 25-25. Coupled with the anticipation of a Democrat in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, a 25-25 split would have given the Democrats an edge, since the Lt. Governor is required to vote on legislation before the state Senate in the event of a tie. Of the 25 seats up for election, there were only three that remained competitive come election night. The number one target for both parties was Senate District 26 in southeast Pennsylvania. This seat opened up due to the retirement of Senator Ted Erickson, but the area has been favorable to Democrats in recent years. It was considered a must-win for both parties. At the end of the night, County Council Chairman Tom McGarrigle (R) defeated Labor Leader John Kane (D) 52% to 48%.

In another highly contested open seat contest, the Democrats were unable to hold onto the seat that became available with the retirement of long-time member Richard Kasunic. Republican Pat Stefano defeated Democrat Deberah Kula 57% to 43%. In the biggest upset of the night, however, incumbent Democrat Tim Solobay lost to challenger Camera Bartolotta 53% to 47% in the 46th Senate District.  The Republicans also picked up a democratic seat that was “moved” from the western part of the state to the east; at the end of the night, Republicans managed to strengthen their majority by picking up three seats and now have a stronghold of 30 members to the Democrats’20.

PA House of Representatives

In the PA House, all 203 seats were up for grabs on Election Day. Heading into Tuesday’s contests, the Republicans held the majority 111-92. Once the dust settled and all votes were tallied, the Republicans had picked up at least eight seats, which grew their majority to a total of 119 -84. Among the seats that went from democrat to republican include those held by Representatives Kula, Painter, White, Mirabito and Mundy.

Stay tuned for an upcoming blog profiling some of the more prominent races and open seats.