Casey cruises to victory; local Dems easily retain seats

Barbara Hafer won the campus vote yesterday. Governor Robert Casey won almost everything else. As expected, Democrats won easily in the University-area races for U.S. House of Representatives and State House of Representatives. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Thomas Foglietta took 79 percent of the vote in District 1, easily defeating Republican challenger James Jackson. In the state House districts, Democratic Representative Harold James, the incumbent, won decisively over Republican Bruce Morgan with 87 percent of the vote in District 186. In District 188, another incumbent Democrat, James Roebuck defeated Republican challenger Edward Jacobs, taking 92 percent of the vote. College Republicans president Charles Djou said he was "delighted" with Hafer's 146-95 margin at four campus polls -- Irvine Auditorium, the Christian Association building, International House and the Dental School. Many students voting yesterday afternoon said that they had crossed party lines to vote for Republican Hafer because of her proclaimed pro-choice stance. But Matthew Wolfe, the 27th Ward Republican leader, said last night that Hafer's support for abortion rights was only part of the reason for the results. "In divisions where we hustled, it paid off," Wolfe said. Wolfe said 27th ward Republicans pushed in this election to gain momentum for next year's mayoral race, which he said he expects to be a "bloodbath." 27th Ward Democratic Leader Kevin Vaughan said that the ward Democrats did not endorse Governor Casey. "This is a loud protest vote for his signing of the Abortion Control Act and his failure to fund family planning," Vaughan said. Campus voter turnout was scant yesterday -- Wolfe termed it "abysmal" -- with only a small fraction of registered students voting at their assigned locations. Vaughan attributed the low turnout in part to the fact that this is the first general election in which there were no polling places in University residences. "In part, it's the hoops people had to jump through in order to be able to vote," he said. Casey's Lieutenant Governor is Mark Singel. Hafer's running mate was State Representative Harold Mowery (R-Cumberland). Other races beyond University City also drew campus interest. In the 4th District state senate race, pro-choice Democrat Allyson Schwartz ended Republican Joseph Rocks two-term tenure by an 11,000-vote margin. U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader William Gray, a Democrat, easily retained his 2nd district seat, taking 92 percent of the vote. Republicans apparently kept control of the Pennsylvania state senate yesterday, guaranteeing the GOP a voice in the redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts which will occur before the 1992 elections. Democrats control the state House and governor's office. In the state senate's 2nd District, Democrat Francis Lynch fended off Republican Bruce Marks with 51 percent of the vote after a difficult race. The Associated Press and Staff Writers Stephen Glass, Liz Herman, Beth Mantz, and Raji Jagadeesan contributed to this article.

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