Political group says it's out with the old in Pa.

Politicians, take note: Incumbents need not apply.

PA Clean Sweep boldly proclaims this message on its Web site, and means it. No exceptions.

The group backs politicians to unseat officials in the Pennsylvania state government. With the election next week, though, it remains to be seen whether it still commands the clout to make a big splash in Harrisburg.

"We wanted to raise candidates to run against every incumbent" said Russ Diamond, who founded the movement in protest of a move by the state Legislature last year to raise its own pay dramatically.

And less than a year into its existence, the nonpartisan organization has already given incumbents a run for their money.

First, state Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro lost his seat, becoming the first state judge to do so since 1968.

And over the course of one primary election evening, both Robert Jubelirer (R-Altoona), Senate president pro tempore, and Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill (R-Lebanon) went from high-ranking legislators to lame ducks.

Now, with general elections fast approaching, PA Clean Sweep is still saying, "in with the new and out with the old."

Thirty-five PA Clean Sweep candidates are now on the ballot. Seven of those beat an incumbent in the May primaries to get there.

"The electoral process in Pennsylvania, over the years, has come into the situation where very few [incumbents] actually have any real competition," Diamond said. "When you have competition, the cream rises to the top."

But while PA Clean Sweep's triumph at the May primaries may have reflected voter outrage at last year's legislative salary hike - which was later repealed - the organization's influence is dissipating, experts say.

"A couple of incumbents will lose because of [the pay raises] and some other things, but it no longer has the same power that it had" in the May primary, political analyst and Franklin and Marshall College professor Terry Madonna predicts.

"Voters just don't hold onto an issue like that indefinitely," Madonna said.

Larry Ceisler, a principal with the media and issue advocacy firm Ceisler Jubelirer, agreed that the issue is not likely to be at the forefront of voters' minds come next week.

"If a voter wants to vote against an incumbent, it will be cumulative in nature and not, for the most part, based on one issue," he said.

One such incumbent, Rep. James Roebuck (D-Phila.), said he believes that the challenge presented by PA Clean Sweep reformers is nothing to worry about.

"I don't think it ever was a major issue in the race," said Roebuck, who represents Penn's district. "I've always been very straight up in saying I voted for the pay raise."

The proposal, which called for salary increases of 16 to 54 percent, was introduced and passed in the wee hours of July 7, 2005. Although constitutional law prohibits legislators from receiving a pay raise in the same term they approve it, members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly did so by exploiting a loophole.

"That sort of thing needs to be stopped by ordinary citizens," said Traci Confer, a PA Clean Sweep-backed Green Party candidate in the city.

Pennsylvania's 253 legislators make its legislature the second-largest in the nation, topped only by New Hampshire. The state also has the second-highest-paid legislature, with a base salary of $81,027 for the 2005-2006 year, according to figures obtained from the nonpartisan Web site, IssuePA.com.

"It's not uncommon for legislative work to get so long that things go into the early morning hours," Roebuck's PA Clean Sweep opponent, Michael Rosenberg, also of the Green Party, said. "But this was introduced in the early morning hour. . It's despicable."

Roebuck, who ultimately voted to rescind the earlier pay raise four months after voting in support of it, maintains that the pay raise was legitimate considering a legislator's typical workload.

"You have a voting record. People know where you stand on the issue," the 20-year representative said. "The voters in the 188th District seem very well satisfied with my record of public service."

Instead of monetary resources, PA Clean Sweep guides candidates of all parties through the nuts and bolts of campaigning. Candidates must first submit a declaration supporting the public's right to review and approve proposed legislation and attend an interview with board members. The organization does not discriminate against candidates with little or no prior political experience.

"What PA Clean Sweep gave these candidates was a sort of branding, where they can knock on somebody's door and maybe that person at the door knows where they're coming from," Diamond, who previously ran for Pennsylvanian governor, said.

With the general election less than a week away, the polls may very well be a testing ground for the organization's effectiveness.

"Does it help brand them as something?" Ceisler asked. "Maybe so, but they're also Republicans in some cases and Democrats in some cases, and that's the label that they're going to be treated as in the end."

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