Thursday, February 14, 2008

Notes From the Final Candidates List

The Department of State’s list is time stamped 3:35 so we might assume it is final; the deadline to turn in election petitions was noon.

One Republican (Thomas Ellis) and four Democrats lined up for state treasurer:
Jennifer Mann
Dennis Morrison-Wesley
John Cordisco
Rob McCord

The congressional races are crowded:

In the 3rd district, four Democrats are lined up against incumbent Republican Phil English

The 5th district is an open seat; nine Republicans and three Democrats turned in petitions.

In the 6th, incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach has three Democratic challengers, Bob Rovner, Bob Roggio and Mike Leibowitz.

In the 8th, incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy has two Republican challengers, Tom Manion and Joseph Montone

In the 10th, incumbent Democrat Chris Carney faces off against three Republicans.

In the 13th, incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz still has two Republican opponents, Marina Kats and Lee Falgoust.

In the 18th, incumbent Republican Tim Murphy has four Democratic challengers.

Only Democrat Mike Doyle of the 14th district gets off scot free with no opponents of any party.

In the state senate (with an emphasis on unusual races):

In the 1st district Vince Fumo has three Democratic challengers in the primary and the winner of that scuffle has a nominal Republican opponents.

The 13th district (open seat) has one Democrat and four Republicans in the mix.

The 17th district (another open seat) has one Democrat (Daylin Leach) and three Republicans (Lisa Paolino, Lance Rogers and John Durante) listed though I am told one has dropped out.

The 23rd district also has three Republicans and one Democrat.

The 33rd district has four Republicans in the mix.

The 47th has three Democrats and two Republicans.

Five of the 25 state senators up for election or reelection have no competition at all. They are: Mary Jo White (R-21), John Gordner (R-27), Don White (R-41), Jay Costa (D-43), and Sean Logan (D-45).

There are too many state house races to really keep track of. Most contested races have just two candidates, though some have significantly more.

In the 149th Tim Briggs now has an opponent, Republican Michael Fiore

Of the 203 house seats, over one third (78) have only one candidate, running unopposed. Oddly enough these are evenly split, 39 Democrats get a free ride, as do 39 Republicans. (Remember, I'm a liberal arts major -- double check the math.) The Speaker of the House, Republican Dennis O'Brien (R-169), and the Deputy Speaker, Josh Shapiro (D-153) are among those who can eat a lot more dinners at home with the family instead of running around campaigning.

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