Next day reactions

Timothy McNulty | November 5, 2009

Two nice election day reacts today from Rich Lord and Jim O'Toole.

Lord on the mayor's race:

For 76 years, Democrats have won Pittsburgh mayoral elections. The lone asterisk sits beside the 1977 election, when Democratic Mayor Richard Caliguiri sat out the primary, then ran as an independent to beat Democratic nominee Tom Foerster.

Other than the 1977 race, no Democratic nominee has gotten less than 60 percent of the vote since 1945. The average share of the vote garnered by all Democratic nominees since 1933 is 65.9 percent.

O'Toole on GOP gains statewide:

With an overall statewide turnout estimated at 20 percent, the voting dearth extended across the political spectrum but seemed to be particularly acute among Democrats.

The apparent turnout disparity in favor of the GOP raises questions about the staying power and effectiveness of a Democratic registration advantage that surged over the last two election cycles. [Republican consultant John] Brabender argued that the intensity of voter interest, a Democratic edge in the state in 2006 and 2008, was shifting back to his party.

"What happened yesterday was that a lot of Republicans showed up and a lot of Democrats didn't -- we hadn't seen that in a while," he said.