by Tim Storey
It's the winter solstice, December 21st, so it's time to send StateVote 2006 into hibernation with the apparent conclusion of the Pennsylvania House district 156 race. The final outcome of that election gives the Democrats control of the Pennsylvania House. After a prolonged intial count, the inevitable litigation and a swift recount, it appears that Democratic candidate Barbara McIlvaine Smith has won by 27 votes out of the more than 23,000 cast. The Philadelphia Inquirer has a wrap up story online here. The Inquirer did a nice job tracking the many twists and turns of this race that determined control of the Pennsylvania House. Barring an unexpected plot twist, Democrats will now control the Pennsylvania House 102 to 101.
So let's close the book on the 2006 election. Democrats won big--picking up ten chambers. Republicans managed a tie in the Oklahoma Senate that will operate under a power sharing arrangement (a copy is linked from this website), and the GOP won control of the Montana House. In 2007, there will be 23 Democratic controlled legislatures, 15 under Republican control and 11 split between the two parties.
Comments