Truth: PA Revolution One-Sided Party Verdict with 4 To 1 Republicans Down and Out
The election results now becoming more detailed across Pennsylvania reveal the May 16, 2006 Primary Election a Republican mini-revolt against high-spending and arrogant Republican Senate leaders and handfulls of rank and file leadership followers to amount to about one-dozen direct Primary defeats.

Astonishing defeats for Jubelirer, BrightbillWed, May. 17, 2006

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14597854.htm

Meanwhile top state Democrats retained Senate and House leadership positions, including Mike Veon, who voted against repeal of the egregious pay raise. Veon was retained by a 60 percent margin! Rep. H. William DeWeese, Democrat and Minority House leader, was also favored by some 59 percent margin!

Unofficial Returns
2006 General Primary

http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionReturns.aspx?control=OfficeDistrictReturns&ElecID=12&OfficeID=12

Only 3 or 4 Democrat incumbents went down to direct challengers!

Yet, hear tell from the media, the overturn of some 15 or 16 incumbents facing direct challengers was a huge message to the Harrisburg entrenched.

Say what? I'm sorry, but Net the Truth Online just doesn't see it that way.

30 incumbents retired.

Challengers in those instances faced each other, not the incumbent. How many were anti-incumbency PA Clean Sweep opponents? In many cases, there were a more than a few facing off with each other in the same PARTY!

That occurred because PA Clean Sweep wanted to accumulate as many PA Clean Sweep candidates as possible to rack up a more impressive amount than its initial 13 in (2005) August.

Also some 109 candidates were claimed as Clean Sweepers, but not all were Primary candidate challengers to begin with. A Politically Incorrect article published May 2, entitled May 16, states only some 40 Clean Sweep candidates remained intact for the Primary!

So with only 40 or so Clean Sweep challengers, and overdosing of them in the same districts and in the same Party, that left many, many more opponents who were let's say 'establishment' challengers.

40

May 17, 2006

Payback time
2 Senate leaders, House veteran ousted in pay-raise backlash By John L. Micek
Call Harrisburg Bureau

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5boot.5284002may17,0,2619056.story

Overall, since not just mostly, but overwhelmingly 4 to 1 Republicans were defeated, consider that Republicans are staunch fiscal conservatives. When leadership ignores that basic tenet, economically conservative Party watchers start complaining. That's what happened after the state Republican leadership and rank and file opted not only for a humongous raise in salary last July, but also when legislators went over and above the PA Constitution to take the increase in the form of unvouchered expenses.

Avid Pennsylvania Republican party members across the state started complaining.

Along with them, in tandem, was the new organization started from a website effort to kick out all incumbents - PA Clean Sweep.

Media publicized the efforts by inviting Russ Diamond, founder of PA Clean Sweep, to an August Press Club Luncheon as the keynote speaker. The event was televised on PCN TV.

Since that August overview, the media has focused on the anti-incumbency movement almost exclusively.

Tim Potts, Democrat and organizer of the state version of Democracy Rising, and Diamond became joined at the hips to promote the anti-incumbency movement early, in time for the November 2005 municipal elections which included retention ballots for two state Superior Court Justices.

One Justice was defeated, Democrat Russell Nigro, by 51 percent while the second Justice, a Republican, was retained by 54 percent.

Even with that split, the anti-incumbent movement claimed overwhelming success and that belief was touted by the Pennsylvania media.

Now, the anti-incumbency movement claims the defeat of two Republican Senate leaders and two-dozen rank and file as a huge success for the anti-incumbency and reform movement.

There was statewide, however, only a 20 percent turnout of voters registered to vote in the Primary.

(Keystone Politics cites 20 percent http://www.keystonepolitics.com/Article3417.html)

And the defeated were overwhelmingly 4 to 1 Republicans.

Governor Ed Rendell faced no opposition in the Primary, yet, there was plenty of time after Rendell signed the pay raise into law for an anti-incumbent challenger to mount a campaign for Governor, even if that challenger had to switch parties to face-off with Rendell in the Primary.

Nobody stepped forward.

Democrats kept to the Party line with the exception of a few who had already been dissatisfied -

60 percent retention for Veon and DeWeese.

Only 3 rank and file Democrat DEFEATS.

Isn't that a message to Republicans? Ya'd think.

Sen. Jubelirer concedes defeat
(10:50 p.m.)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PACleanSweep made its mark on the Legislature tonight as Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer has just become the second legislative leader to concede a loss in the Republican primary.

Earlier this evening, state Sen. David J. Brightbill conceded to Republican challenger Mike Folmer, former Lebanon city councilman...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06136/690638-178.stm

Republicans have been flim-flammed again by the Democrats. Wonder whether Democracy Rising PA members voted for Gov. Ed?

Sure Micek, 16 direct challengers, a dozen of them Republicans, and 30 newcomers due to incumbents' retirements - that's voter outrage sweeping incumbents out of office.

We're in shock at the spin.

AP listing shows 10 Republican losses and 3 Democrat losses.

Wed, May. 17, 2006
Pa. incumbents who lost in primary Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly who lost during the primary election. Some races remain too close to call.

Senate:
1R. David J. Brightbill, R-Lebanon, majority leader.

2R. Robert C. Jubelirer, R-Blair, president pro tempore.

House of Representatives:
3R. Gibson C. Armstrong, R-Lancaster.
4R. Roy E. Baldwin, R-Lancaster.
Fred Belardi, D-Lackawanna.
5R. Teresa E. Forcier, R-Crawford.
6R. Dennis E. Leh, R-Berks.
7R. Stephen R. Maitland, R-Adams.
Frank J. Pistella, D-Allegheny.
Kenneth W. Ruffing, D-Allegheny.
8R. Paul W. Semmel, R-Lehigh.
9R. Thomas L. Stevenson, R-Allegheny.
10R. Peter J. Zug, R-Lebanon.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14596958.htm

AI Says 15 losses

Friday, May 19, 2006

The 2006 Primary: House
All of the House?s 203 seats were up for re-nomination. To be sure, the House was much more affected by members not running (29 in all) than the half of the Senate in the primary. That left 174 incumbents running for re-nomination.

There were 159 incumbents that were re-nominated, with 119 of those not facing a primary challenger. That leaves 40 House members that beat a challenger to win his or her primary. 15 incumbents lost to a primary challenger and will not return to Harrisburg.

Again, looking at how the 174 incumbents fell on party lines and their vote on the July 2005 pay raise, Republicans who voted for the raise were hit much harder than the Democrats....

http://www.alleghenyinstitute.org/blog/

AI TELLS IT LIKE IT HAPPENED, THANKS

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The Fallout From the Primary Election
So, just how significant were the results of Tuesday?s primary election? With the legislature?s July 2005 pay grab on the minds of voters, there was a real increase in the number of primary challengers to incumbents than in previous years. That, coupled with retirements prior to election time, held the promise for change.

The biggest impact was the defeat of the Senate?s top two leaders, who were linked with the pay raise. The House leadership?the Speaker, minority leader, and minority whip?all held their seats, meaning that stewardship of that chamber remains firmly in place. The vote count in the races for the minority leaders (both won with roughly 60 percent of the vote) shows that voters in those districts are more concerned with having officials who can bring home the bacon, regardless of how self-serving the actions of those leaders were.

In the region, there were twelve House incumbents (11 Democrats and 1 Republican) that voted for the pay raise and faced primary opposition. Four of those twelve lost their seats and will not return to Harrisburg. It is interesting to note that the 1 Republican was one of the four.

It is hopeful that some incumbents will not be returning to the Capitol. But the fact that so many of those in support of the pay raise will be going back makes us wonder if any long-term progress will be made...

http://www.alleghenyinstitute.org/blog/

G.O.P. Conservatives Topple Veteran State Lawmakers in Pennsylvania
By JASON DePARLE
Published: May 18, 2006
WASHINGTON, May 17 ? A revolt among Pennsylvania conservatives gained national attention on Wednesday after challengers toppled at least 12 state lawmakers they deemed insufficiently committed to small government and fiscal restraint.

In Pennsylvania, the incumbents' fall was extraordinary. No Senate leader had lost a primary challenge since 1964.

"And we took out two last night," said Matthew J. Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative group in Harrisburg.

Pennsylvania conservatives had long accused the Republican leaders of the Legislature of being too quick to go along with Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat. In two of the last three state budgets, Mr. Brouillette said, the Legislature approved more spending than Mr. Rendell had requested.

The smoldering anger among Pennsylvania conservatives caught fire last summer when the Republican-controlled Legislature approved pay increases of up to 54 percent for elected officials in all three branches of government.

"That was the Alamo," Mr. Folmer said. After an outpouring of criticism, the lawmakers rescinded the increase, but they could not rescind the anger.

In some races, the groundwork for a primary challenge had been laid. John Eichelberger, who defeated Mr. Jubelirer, the Senate president pro tempore, had been contemplating the race even before the increase in pay.

In doing so, Mr. Eichelberger said, he had the support of several wealthy Pennsylvanians, including Bob Guzzardi, a member of the Club for Growth who commissioned a poll of the district in the Altoona region by Kellyanne Conway, a pollster here.

After entering the race, Mr. Eichelberger received an endorsement from Mr. Toomey, who also helped him raise money. Mr. Toomey, a former congressman, is prominent among Pennsylvania conservatives for having nearly beat a moderate Republican, Arlen Specter, in a United States Senate primary in 2004.

Mr. Eichelberger, along with three other conservative challengers, created a campaign document, "Promise to Pennsylvania," modeled after the "Contract With America" that the Republicans used in 1994 to capture Congress.

It called for stricter regulation of lobbyists, term limits, tort reform and the vote of three-fifths of the Legislature before raising taxes. Three of the four signers won. The fourth is clinging to a narrow lead.

"People are just tired of Republicans who don't represent the bedrock conservative values of the party," Mr. Eichelberger said. "They're Republican in name only. If you're going to be a Republican, be a Republican."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/us/18repubs.html

May 18, 2006

It's up to reformers to chart new path
Outraged voters swept incumbents out of office. Now newbies must determine agenda.
By John L. Micek
and Christina Gostomski Call Harrisburg Bureau

Now what?

That's the question facing Pennsylvania's political reformers now that it's clear voters demand continued change in the wake of last year's hefty legislative pay raises. The electorate, shaking off its storied lethargy, handed out historic defeats Tuesday to incumbent lawmakers.

Activists and the approximately 60 new legislators who will infuse new blood into the 253-member General Assembly next year must move quickly to further refine an agenda and to choose an articulate spokesman.

That's because until now the movement has been defined more by what it opposes (the raises and the autocratic Harrisburg establishment), than by what it supports — an accountable state government.

''If you look at the number of new faces, there is a critical mass,'' political consultant and former Penn State politics professor Michael Young said. ''Some of them are populists. Some of them are Republican conservatives. Some of them are tyros. It's not clear where that leadership is going to come from.''

Although the new face of reform may be unknown, the issues that will drive the restoration of public faith — lobbyist reform, campaign finance reform and property tax relief for homeowners — have been widely known for months.

So far, no one issue has emerged as the key one.

Tim Potts of the activist group Democracy Rising acknowledged that the meter is running and that the type of leadership being demanded now is unlikely to come from today's House and Senate leaders.

Rock The Capitol activist Eric Epstein hopes Tuesday's upsets will push ''rank and file [lawmakers]…to drive the agenda,'' rather than defer to party bosses. Rookies elected in November could play a role in any reform.

Even as activists and the new lawmakers-to-be adjust to their new legitimacy, Harrisburg's existing political class must find its footing on the state's suddenly reshaped political topography.

In the biggest display of voter outrage since 1980, 61 House and Senate incumbents faced primary challenges Tuesday. Seventeen went down in defeat, according to unofficial election results. Several close races could resurrect some careers if recounts favor the incumbents.

Thirty legislative seats were left open by incumbent retirements, the largest number since 1992. The new class of November winners will take office next January.

The ranks of chastened legislators came from both parties and both chambers, but most were Republicans who hailed from southwestern and central Pennsylvania, where anger over the pay raise was the greatest. Lawmakers last year raised their salaries 16 percent to 34 percent, only to repeal the windfall months later under extreme public pressure.

The two highest-profile victims were Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer, R-Blair, and Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill, R-Lebanon...

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-insideelectmay18,0,5553767.story

PRIMARY ELECTION 2006
Incumbents hang on
By Jaime North
The Daily Item
May 17, 2006
LEWISBURG ? Freshman challenger Malcolm Derk, a 24-year-old Freeburg borough councilman, lost his bid Tuesday to unseat incumbent Rep. Russell Fairchild, R-85 of Lewisburg.

With an overwhelming 66 percent of the vote in Union County, Mr. Fairchild held on to win the Republican primary nomination, although he lost to Mr. Derk in Snyder County 1,014 to 821...



http://www.dailyitem.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS/605170319/-1/NEWS11

The Revolution of 2006!
Historic election sets new direction for General Assembly 05.17.06


HARRISBURG, PA ? Yesterday?s primary election represents a tectonic shift in politics as usual in Pennsylvania. Although history favored incumbents at the ballot box in both primary and general elections, the defeat of 17 incumbents (pending official results) in 2006 overcame the previous record of 15 incumbents in 1980.

The resounding defeat of Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer and Majority Leader David ?Chip? Brightbill demonstrate voters? lingering outrage over last year?s legislative pay raise and the unscrupulous financial and legislative practices in the General Assembly.

http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/index.cfm?mainContent=/research/index.cfm§ion=newsreleases&articleID=1580&articleType=28

Analysis: GOP results bode poorly for November vote
Republicans' anger could drag down Santorum, Swann
Thursday, May 18, 2006

By James O'Toole and Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Incumbents of both parties were targeted by state pay raise opponents in the months leading to Tuesday's primary, but the day's victims were disproportionately Republican.

Champions and casualties of that upheaval agreed that it would have consequences in November in and beyond the legislative races. In particular, several experts suggested, the evidence of disaffection among core Republican voters presents challenges for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann in promoting the big GOP turnout they will need in November.

"One message you have to take away is that rank-and-file Republican voters are very angry with incumbents,'' said Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, an influential conservative lobbying group. "It's a mistake to conclude this was all about the pay raise. This has been brewing for some time and it's about dissatisfaction with elected Republicans who have abandoned a commitment to limited government.''

Blair County Commissioner John Eichelberger, who took the most prominent GOP scalp Tuesday in wresting the Republican nomination from incumbent state Sen. Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, said that GOP estrangement with Mr. Jubelirer and other legislative leaders preceded last July's abortive pay raise effort.

He said a poll of the Blair County district taken last June, two weeks before the July 7 pay raise vote, showed widespread dissatisfaction with the incumbent over issues including his support of several tax increases.

A variety of leading conservatives, including Mr. Toomey, have voiced similar criticisms of the fiscal performance of the Bush administration and the Republican majorities in Congress. At a pre-primary meeting of the Republican Assembly, a group dedicated to prodding the party toward its conservative roots, Mr. Toomey said that many Washington Republicans had "lost their way" in abetting a fiscal culture of deficits and pork barrel spending.

"There is unquestionably discontent within the Republican Party,'' former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton, an unsuccessful candidate for his party's gubernatorial nomination, said Tuesday night. Mr. Scranton, along with Mr. Toomey, was among a cadre of prominent conservative Republicans who worked for the ouster of Mr. Jubelirer and other incumbents they characterized as complicit in the budget approaches of Democrats like Gov. Ed Rendell.

While no friend of Mr. Jubelirer, Mr. Scranton did agree with him Tuesday in describing his ouster as part of an anti-incumbent impulse that went well beyond the Republican Party.

"There is a strong feeling in Pennsylvania to 'throw the bums out,' " he said...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06138/691139-178.stm