Nov 7, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 8 min read

Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell cruised to statewide election as governor Tuesday, leaving local Democrats pleased that a member of their party will control the governorship for the first time in eight years. But even as Rendell buoyed Democrat hopes by carrying Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, his tight winning margins over Republican Mike Fisher encouraged GOP leaders in the tri-county area.

Fisher was especially competitive in Washington County, where he captured 48.2 percent of the vote to Rendell’s 51.7 percent – and the Democrat prevailed by a razor-thin 2,009 votes out of 58,447 cast for the two candidates. In the final but unofficial tally, Rendell got 30,228 votes to Fisher’s 28,219.

Mark Mikec, Washington County Republican Party chairman, said that while he considers his county to be conservative in its thinking, Fisher’s strong showing demonstrated the willingness of voters of that persuasion to go Republican.

“The exciting thing for us, as a party, is that we would actually be appealing to them. They’re actually voting for our candidates,” said Mikec. “I’m pretty happy that we got that close (to Rendell). It just seemed to be like we were in a four-point race. It could have gone either way. We think that it went well.”

Had other counties in Democrat-dominated areas mirrored Washington’s level of support for Fisher, Mikec said the result would have been a win for the current GOP attorney general.

“If the other counties would have been pulling in about the same, I think it would have been a win for Fisher,” said Mikec, who added, “It was a big win for Republicans (nationwide) last night, so it was bittersweet.”

Statewide, based on the State Department’s final but unofficial tally of 99.26 percent of the vote, Rendell got 1,879,412 votes to Fisher’s 1,568,471 votes.

In Greene County, Rendell captured 54.3 percent of the votes cast for the two candidates, to 45.6 percent for Fisher. That translated to 5,013 votes for Rendell and 4,209 votes for Fisher.

Richard Yeager, Greene County Republican chairman, said that the right to bear arms and fear of higher state taxes under Rendell bolstered Fisher’s standing among voters in Greene.

“I think the vote reflects the Second Amendment issue real strongly, especially down here in Greene County,” said Yeager, who thinks plenty of Democrats voted for Fisher on that issue. “I also believe the fear of having our (state income) taxes raised contributed to that, too.”

Yeager said that the GOP committees in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties stressed those issues very strongly in pre-election campaigning. Given the results, he said it appears they got the pro-Fisher message out pretty well.

As an example, Yeager said that the Greene GOP attended a gun bash hosted by the Waynesburg Sportsmens’ Association and spoke informally to small groups of people as they entered and exited the event.

In Fayette County, Rendell got his best area performance, capturing 57.8 percent of the votes cast for the two men, versus 42.1 percent for Fisher. That translates into 19,034 votes for Rendell to 13,846 for Fisher, a winning margin of 5,188 for Rendell.

However, Christopher Sepesy, chairman of the Fayette County Republican Party, said he remains thrilled with the level of support the GOP garnered in a traditional Democrat hotbed, starting with the governor’s race.

“I am very, very happy with that,” said Sepesy. “We put forth a plan last year, when we reorganized the (party) committee. I am doing as best I can to adhere to it, as our most of the people on the committee.”

Sepesy said that in addition to focusing on areas of the county with higher concentrations of Republican voters – such as the mountain and northern regions – that strategy included gambles that paid off in places like South Union and North Union townships and Smithfield Borough.

“People are finally becoming attuned to what our message is, and they agree more with what we are offering than what the Democratic Party is,” said Sepesy.

Fayette County Democrat Party Chairman Fred L. Lebder, who ran pre-election newspaper advertisements urging voters to support Rendell, could not be reached for comment.

On the other hand, Fayette County Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites, who ran a pre-election phone bank on behalf of Rendell, stressed that not counting Allegheny County, Fayette gave Rendell his largest margin of victory in the southwestern region of the state.

Vicites said his initial projection that had Rendell winning by 8,000 votes fell short by about 2,800 votes because of a lower voter turnout than he anticipated. With turnout only 41 percent, Vicites said that the number of Rendell votes fell proportionally.

“The trend that I mentioned was there. But the (presidential) election in 2000 had a higher turnout,” said Vicites of the barometer he was using.

Vicites also noted that while Fayette gave Rendell a solid win, Fisher took nearby Westmoreland County by 9,000 votes. He said he’s hopeful that Rendell will follow through on his campaign pledge to support Fayette and the region.

“I think we’ve got him on record as supporting our priority projects: the Mon-Fayette Expressway, our airport and (the county) industrial park. I think he’ll help us with our priority projects, and Southwestern Pennsylvania as a whole,” said Vicites. “I think he realizes that a lot of people worked hard for him in Fayette.”

Fayette County Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh, who attended Rendell’s election night victory party in Philadelphia, said that Rendell was eager to find out how he did in Fayette.

“He was glad he won Fayette County. He was grateful for everybody’s help. And he told me that he was very pleased that my brother (Michael) helped him in the primary,” said Cavanagh. “The first thing he wanted to know was our results. He’s so intense and focused of an individual … he wanted to know, ‘What were the numbers in Fayette?’ He was like a hawk (on that matter), actually.”

Cavanagh noted that while the race was closer than some people thought it would be, he was glad that Fayette was one of the counties that Rendell won in the state. He said he believes Rendell will remember the support he received in Fayette.

“I talked to Ed last night at the hotel. He thanked me for all the help. He went right to it and introduced me to the guy who’s going to build our airport,” said Cavanagh, referring to a person who Rendell apparently has in mind for a “high level position” in his administration.

Cavanagh said that the bottom line is that Rendell was elected, that he carried Fayette and that he plans to be governor for the entire state, not just his home of Philadelphia and its suburban counties.

“I’m excited … Ed Rendell said last night, ‘They think I’m just a Philadelphia mayor, but they’re all wrong. There are people hurting out there (all over the state) and we’re going to change all of that,'” said Cavanagh. “Ed Rendell said that nobody’s going to divide us. I personally think he wants to be the greatest governor in the history of Pennsylvania. He loves this stuff. He also said that he thinks (fellow Democrat gubernatorial candidate) Bob Casey Jr. may one day be governor.”

Greene County Commission Chairman Dave Coder, who also serves as chairman of his county’s Democrat Party, said that Greene was one of 18 counties in the Commonwealth that Rendell carried. There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

“I’m very happy that Greene County was in the Rendell column … It was a tough election. Mike Fisher was a western Pennsylvania candidate,” said Coder, referring to Fisher’s residency in Allegheny County.

Coder said that while visiting polls on Election Day, he ran into “quite a few folks who brought up the gun (control) issue,” which is very important to many people in Greene County. He also said he ran into a few Republicans who were voting for Rendell.

Coder said it’s important to keep in mind that Rendell was a winning Democrat on a night when Republicans scored major victories across the nation, taking back control of the U.S. Senate and widening their majority in the U.S. House.

“Mr. Rendell ran a terrific campaign, especially in light of what happened across the nation. Ed Rendell is one of the best candidates I’ve ever seen,” said Coder. “I’m looking forward to working with the Democratic administration. I truly believe that it’s going to be a good thing.”

Coder said his optimism is fueled by the fact that three of the most powerful Democrat legislators in the state represent Greene County. He identified them as state House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese, state Sen. J. Barry Stout and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, whom Coder said also has national influence.

Washington County Democrat Party Chairman Milan Marinkovich could not be reached for comment.