int THE BEHREND
PEN N STATE
Erie
4
November 8, 2002 14 Pages
Vol. L No. 3
Litepublicans capture Senate,
mu"
Rendell wins governor race jri
=- 1 4,
What happens now?
by Scott Soltis
sports editor
On Tuesday, anything but a routine mid
term election occurred. It was a day of
change for both the United States and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
All of the U.S and Pennsylvania House
seats were up for grabs, as well as many
Senate seats in both governing bodies.
Although there was no presidential election,
there was a gubernatorial race in
Pennsylvania pitting former Philadelphia
mayor Ed Rendell, the Democratic
candidate, against State Attorney General
Mike Fisher, Republican.
Mere minutes after the polls closed in
Pennsylvania at 8 p.m.; Rendell was
projected by Fox News Channel and many
others as the winner. These projections were
true, with Governor-elect Rendell winning
approximately 1.9 million votes, more than
300,000 ahead of Fisher and miles ahead of
the Libertarian and Green party candidates.
Rendell, however, has a tough road ahead
of him. A source inside the Pennsylvania
Department of State says that it is very likely
the Republicans will control both the House
and Senate in the Pennsylvania General
Assembly once everything becomes official.
This would make it very difficult for Rendell
to get much legislation through.
On the national scene, the Republicans
will gain between four and six seats in the
House, increasing their majority. In the
Senate, there will be a shift in power. Going
into Tuesday, the Democrats were the
majority party with 50 seats and one
Independent. After Tuesday the
Republicans will take over the majority of
seats in the Senate with either 51 or 52 seats.
It is not sure what the final count in the
House and Senate will be due to some
special elections that will occur and various
other reasons.
Now comes the crucial question: What
does all of this mean to the students of Penn
State Erie? Ron Ridgley, chair of the
College Republicans of Penn State Erie, is
excited and also concerned over the results
of the election. On the state level, Ridgley
was only "slightly disappointed" with the
way the gubernatorial race turned out. He
was "enthusiastic about Fisher winning Erie
County." Ridgley and the rest of the College
Republicans worked on the Fisher and Phil
English campaigns.
Ridgley expressed concerns that
Governor-elect Rendell might send a great
deal of state funding to Philadelphia. There
are many colleges in that area, and if a
massive amount of funding goes there, then
Winners:
George W. Bush jpi
Republican dominated
Congress behind him,
enabling him to push
his agenda.
•••• • • • •
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404 T i rol , so
DEHRERD COLLEGE
UNARY
Hurst worries that with a Republican
controlled Congress, President Bush will be
able to pass more tax-cuts that lower
government money available for programs
including higher education.
Hurst and Ridgley both have overall
concerns that appear very true about college
students and this election. "There are
enormous amounts of ignorance towards
government throughout our country," said
Hurst. This rings true when polls show that
fewer and fewer people have adequate
knowledge about government.
Another major problem is apathy. Until
this changes and college students begin
voting, we are "not going to see a whole lot
of direct effect on college students," said
Ridgley.
Once students begin to vote there will be
some major changes. Until that day, if it ever
comes, college students will be forced to
silently deal with the after-effects of what
our state and national government decides.
Speaker of the House,
won re-election and
widened the gap in
the House.
Inside
EDITORIAL 6
CALENDAR 7
FEATURES 8
that means less would come here
On the national level, Ridgley is more
optimistic that with a Republican-controlled
Congress, President Bush can turn the
economy around.
"Bush is more likely to be able to pass a
solid tax cut to spur economic growth," he
said. This would mean more jobs for recent
and future college graduates.
From the viewpoint of a Democrat, it is
nearly a diametrically opposite situation.
Ashley Hurst, president of the Young
Democrats of Penn State Erie, was excited
that Rendell won the election. Hurst worked
on the Rendell campaign and says Rendell
is "honest and upfront" and that he's not a
politician who will "just go with the flow."
Hurst feels that Rendell will be "a governor
who will genuinely make an effort to
gradually bring tuition down to reasonable
levels."
In addition to lowering tuition, Hurst feels
that Rendell will also be able to bring more
jobs to Pennsylvania for college graduates.
However, she is quick to point out that a
great deal of what Rendell is able to do
depends on what happens at the national
level.
Hurst was disappointed that there was no
mid-term effect in this year's national
elections. The mid-term effect is a
phenomenon which has happened in only
two of the last 34 elections that occurred
two years after the, presidential election. The
mid-term effect causes the sitting president's
party to lose seats in the House and Senate.
Just the opposite happened this year, and
Hurst (and most Democrats) were not very
pleased.
KRT PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL PEREZ/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Despite a Republican sweep in the Congress, the Democrats acquired several governorships in the recent elec
tions, including Pennsylvania Governor-elect Ed Rendell from Philadelphia.
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leader in the Senate.
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the House, he stepped
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•••••••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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