Fayette has another exciting election
Here’s a variety of elections notes and tidbits from someone who’s been covering elections since 1978 and never gets tired of doing it, especially on nights like last Tuesday when there were major upsets in two local races for the state Legislature.
Most observers thought state Rep. Deberah Kula, D-North Union Township, would beat Bullskin Township businessman Pat Stefano for the seat in the 32nd District, and Perry Township Supervisor AJ Boni would defeat Republican newcomer Ryan Warner for the seat in the 52nd District of the state House of Representatives.
While neither Kula nor Boni was an incumbent, they were both better known to the general public than either Stefano or Warner and figured to win due simply to the overwhelming almost 3-1 voter registration edge Democrats have over Republicans in Fayette County.
But Stefano and Warner both prevailed against the odds and that’s the magic of elections in our country. Despite what the experts say, you never know what voters are going to do come election day.
And speaking of interesting elections, all bets will be off next spring when voters will be casting ballots for county commissioner and row officers in the primary election. There’s expected to be a number of candidates seeking the nominations, and there’s guaranteed to be plenty of surprises along the way
Warner over the top
Warner did overcome several obstacles on his way to victory against Boni. He was laid off from his job and then had to wage a write-in campaign last spring, after he was kicked off the primary ballot for legal technicalities. Warner never gave up, going on to win his write-bid and upsetting Boni.
But Warner went more than a little overboard with his comments election night. “It’s very encouraging to know that regular people, with the right work ethic, who aren’t connected to politicians, can make a difference, and we proved that tonight,” said Warner.
What he didn’t say, though, was how someone who’s able to raise $130,000 more than his opponent usually wins. According to campaign finance reports as of Oct. 24, Warner spent $44,450 with another $101,972 of in-kind contributions. Boni, meanwhile, spent $8,927 with no in-kind contributions. Given that huge fundraising gap, maybe Warner’s victory wasn’t all that surprising. It certainly allowed Warner to air numerous television ads, which had to be a factor in the race.
Second thoughts
Wonder if Kula’s having second thoughts about the negative campaign she waged against Stefano? Many were surprised at the tone of the ads, especially after Kula waged such a positive campaign against Harry Fike in the Democratic Primary last spring. Like Stefano, Fike criticized Kula for taking per diems and other perks associated with the job. Kula never responded, taking the high road, and voters rewarded her with a 2-1 victory over Fike.
But Kula responded with a vengeance against Stefano, and she definitely wasn’t rewarded this time around. You have to wonder if the ads particularly hurt her in Somerset County where voters didn’t know her very well. That had to be a factor as Stefano trounced her 16,446 to 6,272 in Somerset County.
Another factor, though, had to be the Republicans redistricting push for the 32nd District. Parts of heavily Democratic Washington County and the Mon Valley were moved out of the district in 2012 and replaced by southern Somerset County, which is dominated by Republicans. Stefano still had to at least pull even with Kula in Fayette County, which he did, but putting all of Somerset County in the district gave him the opening he needed.
Get serious
You have to wonder when Democratic Party officials throughout the 9th Congressional District are going to get serious about running a viable candidate against Republican incumbent Bill Shuster.
The district used to be overwhelmingly dominated by Republican, but all that changed, with the redistricting, when all of Fayette County was added to the district along with parts of Greene and Washington counties. Within just those three counties, Democrats have a voter edge over Republicans of 77,324 to 31,599. Overall, the district now has 191,439 Republicans and 185,561 Democrats.
No offense to Alanna Hartzok who lost to Shuster 63.6 percent to 36.4 percent on Tuesday or Karen Ramsburg, who lost to Shuster 64.7 to 38.3 percent in 2012, but their pro-environmental stands against fracking and coal obviously didn’t mesh with the views of the majority of residents in the district. A Democratic candidate with more mainstream views on the environment could possibly make a serious run at Shuster. Of course, the national Democratic Party would have to raise a lot more funds to make such a race viable. Both Hartzok and Ramsburg were never able to come anywhere close to matching Shuster’s fundraising abilities.
Mark O’Keefe is the editorial page editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached by phone at 724-439-7569, by email at mokeefe@heraldstandard.com or by regular mail at 8 Church St., Uniontown, Pa. 15401.