Down River – May 29, 2014
Jake, Yes; Tom, No
What jumps out from last week’s otherwise low key, low turnout Pennsylvania primary is the apparent disdain many Republican voters hold against our first-term GOP governor Tom Corbett.
The numbers shout out that Corbett could be the state’s first non-repeat governor since the law was changed back in the 1960s. Ever since that time the office has alternated between a two-term Republican and a two-term Democrat, most recently two-termer Republican Tom Ridge followed by two-termer Democrat Ed Rendell, followed by, to this point, one-term Tom Corbett, the former state district attorney elected governor for the first time in 2011.
Will there be a second? Corbett supporters will be hard pressed to believe there will be another four years for the former prosecutor.
The statewide election night numbers show that Corbett got far fewer votes than his low-profile Lieutenant Governor running mate Jim Cawley. That tally showed 396,002 votes for Cawley, compared to 369,134 votes for Corbett; my math tells me 26,868 bona fide members of the Grand Old Party made a decision they would vote for Cawley (he is our lieutenant governor; I looked it up) but chose not to push the button for Corbett.
That trend was even more striking in neighboring Centre County where all the major GOP races were walkovers. Corbett got 6,877 Republican primary votes while another 1,144 wrote in someone else (we’ll all be anxious to see where those votes went).
Contrast the Corbett numbers with Cawley’s: the lieutenant governor got 7,855 votes, almost a thousand more than Corbett, while 203 Republicans wrote in someone else for lieutenant governor.
But wait, there’s more. Republican congressman Glenn Thompson did even better in his home county, totaling 8,866 votes as opposed to 175 write-ins for someone else.
And 34th district state senator Jake Corman did better still. The Bellefonte legislator got 9,032 votes for re-election and only 96 Republicans wrote in someone else.
As one pundit noted, have you ever seen a reverse drop-off such as that? A thousand Republicans writing in someone else rather than the sitting governor? And another thousand or so voters refusing to vote at all for governor but yet voting in Corman’s legislative race?
The anti-Corbett trend was similar here in Clinton County, but not quite as striking.
Corbett got 900 ballots cast for him as opposed to 133 write-ins (again we look with some interest to see what the official tally might show as to where these write-in votes ended up).
Cawley had 1,052 county Republicans vote for him with another 19 writing in someone else. And Thompson, in his race for the U.S. House, received 1,222 votes, as opposed to 42 write-ins.
Do the math: Thompson polled more than 300 votes more than Corbett here in Clinton County.
And a day or two after the election, all the Democratic candidates for governor, successful or not, posed for a unity picture with former governor Rendell and current U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr.
And these recent developments come after the occasional GOP legislative insider has told Down River that Corbett has been exceedingly difficult for party leaders to work with, even with the significant majority his party holds in both the state house and senate.
Add it all up and add in the unity the Democratic gubernatorial field displayed in that post-primary election photo op with the party’s runaway primary winner Tom Wolf and Corbett has a lot to overcome between now and November if he wants to win and continue the state’s two-term in a row gubernatorial track record.
Well Done in the Land of the Red Eyes
Somewhere Norman Rockwell has to be pleased.
The Flemington town fathers and mothers pulled off a great social and related events in Groves Community Park on Sunday, all part of the borough’s continuing 150th birthday celebration.
Additional Old Home Week activities will run through the rest of this week, culminating in Flemington’s birthday events on Saturday, including a 1 p.m. parade on High Street with borough patriarch Tom Walker the parade marshal.
Tom, a spry 97, presided over last Sunday’s social and plans to be in special attire in a horse-drawn wagon for Saturday’s parade.
Tom Walker typifies the best of small-town America. If you get the opportunity, read up on his history contained in the 60-page booklet prepared by the borough’s anniversary committee.
Tom has seen a lot and done a lot in his nearly one century. One of 17 children to the notable J.D. “Pat” Walker and “Goldie” Mae Knarr Walker, he traces his roots to the old Walker homestead on High Street in Flemington. He’s had a rich and full life, from going fishing at an early age with the borough’s favorite baseball son Rube Bressler to marrying and raising four outstanding children, all the while serving fellow community members whenever there has been a need.
Enjoy Saturday, Mr. Tom Walker, you’ve earned it.
Let It Be Noted
Early last week a federal middle district judge in Pennsylvania determined that same-sex couples could marry in our state (making Pennsylvania the last in the northeast where same-sex marriages are allowed).
Shortly thereafter, with no fanfare and no problems, two separate female Clinton County couples went to the courthouse on Water Street and secured their marriage licenses.
The face didn’t fall off the courthouse clock, the ceiling didn’t fall in the register and recorder’s office. Life goes on, even in Clinton County.
