Major win for Tea Party in York, Pa., write-in candidate Scott Wagner beats GOP estab. State Sen. Miller, CRUSHing defeat for Mitch McConnell and GOP E

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“I think we are going to crush them everywhere,”- Mitch McConnell, 3/8/14, NY Times
 
3/19/2014, "Scott Wagner's presumed win a historic first," York Dispatch, Christina Kauffman

"Update: Politicos and election officials are confirming Republican Scott Wagner's apparent victory in the 28th Senate as the first time a write-in candidate has won an election for state Senate in Pennsylvania.

Only about 22,300 voters cast ballots in Tuesday's special election, for a turnout of 13.6 percent, according to unofficial numbers from the county's elections office.

Here's The York Dispatch's coverage of the historic win:

In what appears to be an unexpected victory for a conservative businessman who has made a point of bucking his own party, Republican Scott Wagner is presumed to have won a write-in campaign to defeat party nominee Ron Miller for an open seat in the state Senate.

The closely watched, hotly contested face-off ended in disappointment for the Republican mainstay and a first major victory for the tea party in York County. 

With 100 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, write-in votes totaled 

10,595, or 47.7 percent, to Miller's 5,920, or 26.6 percent.

Democrat Linda Small of New Freedom nearly edged out Miller with 5,704 votes, for 25.7 percent.

If all or most of the write-in votes are, as expected, for Wagner, he will have won the race by a healthy margin. County elections director Nikki Suchanic said officials will start poring over the results Thursday, counting write-in votes and confirming their intended recipients. Preliminary election certification is expected for Monday, she said.

Miller conceded the race before 9:30 p.m., calling Wagner and congratulating him, he told a crowd of media gathered outside county Republican headquarters. 

He said a lot of effort and support had been poured into the race, but his efforts fell short. Wagner's camp gathered around him in a skybox at Santander Stadium, chanting "Senator Wagner" at one point during his victory speech.

Wagner said he and his supporters were told they couldn't run a successful write-in campaign, but he developed an in-depth strategy to respond to the "bombs" the "political hit-squad," the state GOP mainstay, would send his way. 

Since announcing his candidacy in September, Wagner drafted hundreds of volunteers and planned ahead so much that all he had to do was pull a plan "off the shelf" and execute it when the time was right, he said.

His campaign was helped by the negative campaign ads the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, Republican Party of Pennsylvania and York County Republican Committee threw at him because they were in "very, very bad taste," he said.

While the Republican party has said it was "fighting fire with fire" with the ads, Wagner said his team "didn't even turn on our flamethrower.

"I never said a single slanderous thing," he said.

The race has been the most expensive York County state Senate race in history, according to politicos, with the state party and Wagner throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads, billboards and political mailers.

If Wagner is the certified winner of the race, he'll fill the seat left vacant by former Sen. Mike Waugh until the session ends Nov. 30. Wagner must also win the May 20 primary to appear on the ballot for the Nov. 4 general election, the winner of which will fill the seat for a full 4-year term.

Miller, an incumbent representative in the state House from Jacobus, said he's going to make a decision within the next week about whether to run in the primary. 

He didn't submit a petition to be on the primary ballot for his seat in the House, but both he and Small have done so for the Senate seat. Republican Zack Hearn of Windsor Township is also a contender.

Wagner said he was confident he could handle the fight if the GOP battles him even harder in the primary.

"I don't fear the Republican Party, trust me," he said. "They ran their best guy ... and he broke his legs halfway around the track." 

He said a lot of damage has been done over the last 30 days of the race, and he will have to step back and evaluate how to work with a group of 49 other senators that include some same-party incumbents who didn't want him.

But he said he'll figure it out.  "I'm not going to the Senate for the next eight years to do nothing," he said.

Perhaps offering the first olive branch, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released a statement congratulating Wagner on his presumed victory Tuesday night.

"Scott Wagner won a hard-fought race, and I am sure he will serve as a strong advocate for the people of the 28th District in the Senate," Gleason wrote.

He also commended Miller on "running a great race."

Wagner, who lives in Spring Garden Township and owns Penn Waste trash contractor, has run on a platform of smaller government and fiscal conservatism. The wealthy businessman has pledged not to take the state pension to which he would be entitled as a senator, and he has said he supports term limits and won't serve more than eight years.

As the lone Democrat on the ballot for the primary, Small said she's turning her focus to the November general election."...

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Added: 1. Waugh resigns. 2. State GOP machine picks Miller. 3. Miller loses to write in candidate Wagner 4. Another primary May 20:

1/14/14, "Sources: Waugh to Resign, Triggering Special Election," politicspa.com

"The 28th district is a safe seat for the GOP. the bigger schism is within the Republican party, where many view the primary as a proxy battle between state Senate leadership, including Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware), and conservatives.

Conservative businessman Scott Wagner declared his candidacy in September. Last week, he announced that he has raised $268,000 to date.

Wagner is independently wealthy and has been a major donor to conservative candidates and causes. He has frequently criticized GOP leadership in Harrisburg and said he would not support Pileggi for GOP Majority Leader."...
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1/24/14, "York GOP committee picks Rep. Ron Miller to run for 28th District Senate seat," York Dispatch, Christina Kauffman

"The special election was announced just hours after Waugh's resignation, and the nine-week schedule lit a match under candidates, party officials, and county elections workers who have to meet the election deadlines.

Republican leaders have said the party wanted to fill the seat in time for important state budget talks, but Wagner contends they wanted the separate election before the May primary so the local committee could vote Miller into the seat before May and give him the advantage of incumbency.

Wagner considers himself an "independent conservative" and has supported tea party candidates who were opposing mainstream Republicans, including Miller, in primary elections.

Thursday's meeting marked the first time in local history the committee has opened the full nominating meeting to the public, a move that Wilson said was intended to address the "conspiracy theory of a back-room deal.""...

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P.S. Don't tell "unsophisticated, extremist" hag Salena Zito that the Tea Party isn't dead.


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