PENNSYLVANIA

20 Electoral Votes

Pennsylvania goes from 21 electoral votes to 20 as a result of reapportionment following the 2010 Census

Population  (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Pennsylvania Department of State) Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est. 12,763,536 Total Registration, Nov. 5, 2012   8,508,015 > Dem. 4,266,317 (50.14%)   Rep. 3,131,144 (36.80%)   Other Parties 1,110,554 (13.05%) Pennsylvania has: 67 counties. Largest counties: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware. > Largest cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie. > Government Governor: Tom Corbett (R) elected 2010. State Legislature: Pennsylvania General Assembly   House: 203 seats   Senate: 50 seats Local: Counties, Cities, Townships...   NACO Counties U.S. House: 12R, 7D - 1. B.Brady (D) | 2. C.Fattah (D) | 3. M.Kelly (R) | 4. J.Altimire (D) | 5. G.Thompson (R) | 6. J.Gerlach (R) | 7. P.Meehan (R) | 8. M. Fitzpatrick (R) | 9. B.Shuster (R) | 10. T.Marino (R) | 11. L.Barletta (R) | 12. M.Critz (D) | 13. A.Schwartz (D) | 14. M.Doyle (D) | 15. C.Dent (R) | 16. J.Pitts (R) | 17. T.Holden (D)  | 18. T.Murphy (R)  | 19. T.Platts (R) U.S. Senate: Bob Casey Jr. (D) re-elected in 2012, Pat Toomey (R) elected 2010.  2012 U.S. Senate: Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D) defeated Tom Smith (R), who built a coal mining business, by a bit more than half a million votes, 53.6% to 44.5% and the remainder to Rayburn Douglas Smith. U.S. House: The delegation saw one retirement and two Members defeated.  Rep. Todd Platts (R), who represented the old 19th CD since his election in Nov. 2000, announced his retirement; in the new 4th CD state Rep. Scott Perry (R) defeated Harry Perkinson (D), an engineering manager, by 59.74% to 34.42%; Mike Koffenberger (L) and Robert Marcoccio (I) also ran.  Rep. Jason Altmire (D), who represented the old 4th CD since his election in Nov. 2006, lost to Rep. Mark Critz (D) in the 12th CD primary; Keith Rothfus (R), making his second run for Congress, then defeated Critz by 11,763 votes out of 338,941 cast, 51.74% to 48.26% in what was the closest PA House race.  Rep. Tim Holden (D), first elected in Nov. 1992, lost to attorney Matt Cartwright (D) in the 17th CD primary; Cartwright defeated Laureen Cummings (R), a nurse, small business owner and Tea Party activist, by 60.31% to 39.69%.  The balance in the House goes from 12R, 7D to 13R, 5D. State Legislature: Republicans maintained control of both chambers.  The House went from 109R, 91D, 3v to 110R, 93D and the Senate from 29R, 20D, 1v to 27R, 23D.

State of Pennsylvania Department of State Constitution Party of PA Libertarian Party of PA PA Democratic Party PA Green Party Republican State Comm. of PA Inquirer/Daily News, p Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p Newspapers TV, Radio PoliticsPA.com pa2010.com Politics1-PA Ballotpedia-PA The Keystone State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 9,086,897. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.1%. Registration: Dem. 3,736,304 (48.01%)   Rep. 3,250,764 (41.77%)   Const. 7,918 (0.10%)    Lib. 30,248 (0.39%)   Other Parties 756,763  (9.72%)   ...Total 7,781,997 Last day to register: Oct. 10, 2000.

Official Results                Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 2,281,127 (46.43) +Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 2,485,967 (50.60) Phillips/Frazier (Const.)    14,428 (0.29) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 11,248 (0.23) Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 103,392 (2.10) Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)    16,023 (0.33) Write-ins 934 (0.02) Total........4,913,119 Notes: In Pennsylvania the Republicans and Democrats are major parties, while the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party qualify as minor parties.  Others are referred to as "political bodies."  Minor party and other presidential candidates wishing to appear on the ballot in the general election needed to obtain signatures from 21,739 registered electors (2% of the highest showing by a candidate in the last statewide election) in the period from Jan. 26-Aug. 1, 2000.

2000 Overview Pennsylvania, with 23 electoral votes, was a battleground state from beginning to end, drawing much attention and resources from both campaigns.  Before the race even got underway, both parties considered holding their nominating conventions in Philadelphia.  On Election Night itself, when networks prematurely called Florida for Bush, Pennsylvania was for a time seen as a must-win for Bush.  As it was, Gore-Lieberman carried the state with a plurality of 204,840 votes (4.17 percentage points).  Bush carried 49 counties to 18 for Gore, but Gore won in the five most populous counties, including a plurality of 348,223 votes in Philadelphia County. General Election Activity

Copyright © 2002-13 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.