The GOP tidal wave did not include Tom Corbett

Just how unpopular was Gov. Tom Corbett?

What happened to the incumbent Republican, buried under a 10-point tsunami, is pretty stark, especially when you consider what happened in the rest of the state, as well as the nation.

Just ask President Obama. He heard the voters' voices as an angry electorate went to the voting booth and rejected his policies, giving the Republicans wins in seven key Senate races and pushing control of that chamber to the GOP.

It was much the same thing here in Pennsylvania.

At one point it was being conjectured that Democrats might actually have a shot at taking control of the state Senate.

Uh, not exactly.

Republicans actually padded their majority, adding three seats for a dominant 30-20 advantage.

It was the same song in the House, where the GOP added eights seats. They will start the new session in January with a 119-84 margin.

Somehow, amid all of this carnage, the guy at the top of the Republican ticket was getting his head handed to him.

As expected, Corbett fared well in the center of the state. But he got crushed in the Philadelphia suburbs, including Delaware County.

In Delaware County, the margin was 106,270 votes for Wolf, just 68,470 for Corbett.

At the same time, Republicans were winning the two hottest races in the county, with Tom McGarrigle taking the 26th District state Senate race, and Jamie Santora prevailing in the 163rd state House race.

Our editorial takes a look at what happened here in Delco. For starters, the death of the county Republican Party was greatly exaggerated. The demise of Tom Corbett was not.

Corbett even managed to lose in Chester County, which almost never votes Democratic. He got buried in an avalanche of Democratic votes for Wolf in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as State College.

Winning this race might have been the easy part for Tom Wolf. More people likely voted against Corbett than for him. Now he will have to try to govern with both the state House and Senate solidly in GOP hands.

If he manages little, he likely will get as much through the Legislature as Corbett managed to do.

That's one of the reasons Corbett made history on Tuesday, becoming the first governor in modern history not to win re-election.

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