This is exactly what I saw happening.
No, not the Red Tide that swept over the country yesterday. I’m talking about the double-barreled kick to the gut suffered by Delco Democrats yesterday.
This was all set in motion by the decision by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak to challenge his own party and their hand-picked candidate, longtime incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter. To be honest, I thought the party-switching Specter would flick off Sestak like a bug hitting his windshield.
I should have known better. The guy who showed 20-year incumbent Curt Weldon the door had a surprise for Democratic leaders. He stunned Specter and went on to face Republican Pat Toomey.
I still wasn’t sure Sestak could win a statewide race. He came close, but fell short.
In the meantime, there was the little matter of that 7th District Congressional seat. After Sestak decided to seek greener pastures, state Rep. Bryan Lentz did the same. Lentz also was something of a giant killer, turning out Republican Rep. Tom Gannon, who spent almost 30 years in Harrisburg representing the 161st District.
Lentz beat Gannon, then easily won re-election two years ago. Once Sestak cleared a path, Lentz set his eyes on that open seat in Congress.
Didn’t happen. Lentz lost to Republican Pat Meehan yesterday.
And it got worse for Delco Dems. Lentz’s old seat in the state House, the won Democrats had tried to wrest out of the GOP clutches for years, went right back to the other side of the aisle. Joe Hackett beat Walt Waite handily.
Just like that, two seats local Dems pointed to as hallmarks of their gains in the county were wiped out. No Sestak, no Lentz, no seat in Congress, no seat in the House.
Ouch!
If local Democrats are looking for a ray of sunshine this morning, they can gaze at Upper Darby, specifically the 164th District seat held forever by Rep. Mario Civera.
The Upper Darby rep gave up his spot in Harrisburg to run – and win – a seat on County Council. But he held onto his state rep post just long enough to prevent a special election being held on primary day, which was going to produce a huge Democratic turnout for the Sestak-Specter war.
Instead the seat sat vacant until yesterday. But Democrat Margo Davidson took advantage of a changing demographic – one that even Civera admitted was coming – to beat Maureen Carey, president of the Upper Darby School Board.
Two other incumbent Dem state reps, Greg Vitali in the 166th, and Thaddeus Kirkland in the 159th, also won.
But they’re not in the minority, with Republicans seizing control of the state House. That’s good news for Rep. Bill Adolph, R-166, who now stands to become chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Maybe today more than ever, this just might be the manta of Democrats, both here and across the country: Dems the Breaks.
No, not the Red Tide that swept over the country yesterday. I’m talking about the double-barreled kick to the gut suffered by Delco Democrats yesterday.
This was all set in motion by the decision by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak to challenge his own party and their hand-picked candidate, longtime incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter. To be honest, I thought the party-switching Specter would flick off Sestak like a bug hitting his windshield.
I should have known better. The guy who showed 20-year incumbent Curt Weldon the door had a surprise for Democratic leaders. He stunned Specter and went on to face Republican Pat Toomey.
I still wasn’t sure Sestak could win a statewide race. He came close, but fell short.
In the meantime, there was the little matter of that 7th District Congressional seat. After Sestak decided to seek greener pastures, state Rep. Bryan Lentz did the same. Lentz also was something of a giant killer, turning out Republican Rep. Tom Gannon, who spent almost 30 years in Harrisburg representing the 161st District.
Lentz beat Gannon, then easily won re-election two years ago. Once Sestak cleared a path, Lentz set his eyes on that open seat in Congress.
Didn’t happen. Lentz lost to Republican Pat Meehan yesterday.
And it got worse for Delco Dems. Lentz’s old seat in the state House, the won Democrats had tried to wrest out of the GOP clutches for years, went right back to the other side of the aisle. Joe Hackett beat Walt Waite handily.
Just like that, two seats local Dems pointed to as hallmarks of their gains in the county were wiped out. No Sestak, no Lentz, no seat in Congress, no seat in the House.
Ouch!
If local Democrats are looking for a ray of sunshine this morning, they can gaze at Upper Darby, specifically the 164th District seat held forever by Rep. Mario Civera.
The Upper Darby rep gave up his spot in Harrisburg to run – and win – a seat on County Council. But he held onto his state rep post just long enough to prevent a special election being held on primary day, which was going to produce a huge Democratic turnout for the Sestak-Specter war.
Instead the seat sat vacant until yesterday. But Democrat Margo Davidson took advantage of a changing demographic – one that even Civera admitted was coming – to beat Maureen Carey, president of the Upper Darby School Board.
Two other incumbent Dem state reps, Greg Vitali in the 166th, and Thaddeus Kirkland in the 159th, also won.
But they’re not in the minority, with Republicans seizing control of the state House. That’s good news for Rep. Bill Adolph, R-166, who now stands to become chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Maybe today more than ever, this just might be the manta of Democrats, both here and across the country: Dems the Breaks.
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