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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Pennsylvania seats -- the coming avalanche

In the election of 2008, the State of Pennsylvania sent 11 Democrats and 7 Republicans to Congress. This year, there is only one open seat, the one vacated by Joe Sestak so that he could run for the Senate. As of this writing, the polling shows that if the election were held today, the numbers would be 12 Republicans and 6 Democrats, a change of 28% of the seats. There are two other seats that are close and could also swing to the Republicans if the turnout by the GOP is as high as many believe it will be. This change is important not just for the numbers, but also for where it is taking place. Pennsylvania is not the conservative heartland like Texas or Georgia. Nor for the most part is it represented in Congress by strong liberals like Nancy Pelosi. Nearly every one of the embattled Democrats in Pennsylvania, however, voted for the Obama - Pelosi - Reid trifecta of the Stimulus, Obamacare and Cap and Trade. They also supported the Obama budget that broke all spending records.

At the same time that these House races are taking place, pennsylvania is also electing a governor and senator. Corbett the Republican is running way ahead of his Democrat opponent in the gubernatorial race. Similarly, Pat Toomey, the Republican is running ahead of Sestak for senator. With republican victories at the top of the ticket, there will be a bit more of an advantage for Republicans in the House seats.

This is shaping up to be quite a swing towards the Republicans in Pennsylvania.

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