Wolf elected governor; wins 89 percent of on-campus vote

With a new Pennsylvania governor and the Republicans now controlling the U.S. Senate, the midterm elections on Tuesday significantly changed local and national political landscapes.

Democratic challenger Tom Wolf handily beat Republican Governor Tom Corbett by nearly 10 percent, marking the first time in over 40 years that a sitting Pennsylvania governor did not win reelection.

Throughout the gubernatorial campaign, public education acted as one of the most important issues to Pennsylvanian voters.

“We need to make sure education is at the top of the list, not the bottom,” Wolf said in his acceptance speech at Utz Arena in York, Pa. “We need to make sure we fund our education system fairly, and we got to make sure that we raise the money that we use to fund our system fairly.”

The issue of education funding resonated with Penn students who voted for Wolf. At campus polling stations, Wolf received 89 percent of the vote. Corbett, on the other hand, received slightly over 10 percent of votes.

“I’m really pleased that Tom Wolf won,” Engineering sophomore Will Johnson said at an election viewing party hosted by eight political groups on campus, including Penn’s Government and Politics Association, College Republicans and the Penn Political Review. “I voted mainly on education and the environment, and I thought Wolf was the pick for that.”

While Democrats had reason to celebrate at the state level, Republicans had a much better day on the national stage .

Republicans needed to win six Democrat-held Senate seats to take control of Congress. By winning seats in Montana, Colorado, West Virginia, South Dakota, Arkansas and Iowa, Republicans accomplished their goal of picking up six Senate seats from Democrats, while also extending their majority in the House of Representatives. At time of publication, Senate races in Virginia and Louisiana remained undecided.

“Anybody who is left probably knew it was going to be a terrible day,” College junior Isaac Freeth said. “I don’t really see much change happening in the next two years anyway. Even if the Democrats had held the Senate, there wouldn’t have been much progress anyway. It’s just another step on a depressing road for anyone who considers themselves left in America. 2016, I guess!”

In addition to Wolf, the Democratic state and national representatives for Penn’s district were easily reelected. Chakah Fattah received over 87 percent of the vote for Congress; Anthony Hardy Williams was reelected to the state senate as the only candidate running in his race; and James Roebuck won his seat in the state house with over 95 percent of the vote, with over 90 percent of precincts having reported results.

While Tuesday brought wins and losses for both political parties, some feel satisfied with a changed political landscape.

“Given the way things have been going the last few years, I think a change will be good, whether that is Republican or Democrat,” said College junior Evan Redos, who considers himself an independent. “I am looking for anything that is different from this status quo.”

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