Voter turnout was small but the victory was decisive. State Rep. Bob Mensch won a landslide victory over Democrat Anne Scheuring to fill the vacant 24th Senatorial District seat.
Mensch defeated Scheuring by a 2-1 margin. In his home county of Montgomery, Mensch defeated Scheuring by a remarkable 72% to 26% margin. In Lehigh County, Mensch won by a 64% to 30% margin. In Bucks County, Mensch won by a 68% to 29% margin. The tightest race was in Northampton county, where Mensch beat Scheuring by a 53% to 42% margin.
With all 123 precincts reporting results, Mensch finished with 12,496 votes. Scheuring had 5,730 votes. Libertarian candidate Barbara Steever had 660 votes.
After three years in the state House representing the 147th District, Mensch moves to the state Senate, giving Republicans a 30-20 majority.
The 24th Senate District has been vacant since July when former state Rep. Rob Wonderling resigned to become president and chief executive of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
There's no indication when Mensch's seat in the state House will be filled. While Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Republican, got to decide when to hold a special election for Wonderlng's seat, the task of filling Mensch's seat falls to Speaker of the House Keith R. McCall, a Democrat.
With Democrats holding a slim 104-99 majority in the House, don't look for McCall to move quickly on replacing Mensch in one of the safest Republican districts in the state. Don't be surprised if McCall puts off a special election until next year.
One other interesting note. There have been three special elections this year to fill vacancies in the state Legislature and Republicans have won all three races by wide margins. That does not bode well for Democrats heading into the 2010 election cycle when all 203 House seats and 25 Senates seats are up for grabs.
Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS
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