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| Elections in Pennsylvania |
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 Government |
The 1966 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8. Republican Ray Shafer, the state's incumbent Lieutenant Governor, was elected to the state's highest office after holding off a charge from future governor Milton Shapp.
Lieutenant Governor Ray Shafer was endorsed by the party establishment and cruised to a primary win. His main opponent was the well known Harold Stassen, the liberal and somewhat eccentric former governor of Minnesota who had retired from the presidency of the University of Pennsylvania.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ray Shafer | 835,768 | 78.02 | |
| Republican | Harold Stassen | 172,150 | 16.07 | |
| Republican | George Brett | 63,366 | 5.92 | |
Milton Shapp, a wealthy and progressive electronics executive, used his own money to score an upset in the Democratic primary over the party establishment's choice, Bob Casey. Casey, who would later win the governorship in 1986, was a more conservative politician who relied on labor and rural support over the urban and suburban base that Shapp courted.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Milton Shapp | 543,057 | 48.59 | |
| Democratic | Bob Casey | 493,866 | 44.19 | |
| Democratic | Edwin Murray | 80,803 | 7.23 | |
 | This section possibly contains original research .(December 2016) |
Shapp ran a spirited campaign,[ according to whom? ] in which he tagged himself as a "man against the machine", but the ambivalence of party leaders[ who? ] toward his renegade candidacy may have ultimately led to his defeat; his campaign was also hurt by fierce opposition from the Philadelphia media, over Shapp's personal involvement in attempting to stop the buyout of the Pennsylvania Railroad. [3]
In contrast to Shapp's exuberant campaign, Shafer had difficulty getting his campaign stabilized,[ according to whom? ] particularly after the original nominee for lieutenant governor, Attorney General Walter Alessandroni, was killed in an aviation accident. Shafer ran on a solid record as a liberal Republican,[ according to whom? ] but struggled to escape the reputation that his career was dependent upon Governor Bill Scranton; although he was able to collect the resources that would allow him to compete financially with Shapp due to a solid fundraising prowess, he was forced to spend much of the early portion of the campaign defending his independence. However, the party split within Democratic ranks proved too much for Shapp to overcome, and Shafer won a moderate victory. [4] [5]
The campaign was smeared by charges of discrimination by both candidates. The Jewish Shapp faced anti-Semitic commentary at many of his rallies and accused GOP committees in several counties of attempts to frighten voters by emphasizing hateful, outdated myths[ according to whom? ] about Shapp's religion. In contrast, Shafer asserted that Democrats were attempted to portray him as a racist; in the closing weeks of the campaign, pamphlets were distributed in minority neighborhoods, which alleged that Shafer's home included a restrictive covenant that would stop the sale of his property to any non-Caucasians. [4]
| Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1966 [6] [7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Ray Shafer | Ray Broderick | 2,110,349 | 52.1 | |
| Democratic | Milton Shapp | Leonard Staisey | 1,868,719 | 46.1 | |
| Constitutional | Ed Swartz | Rick Swaney | 57,073 | 1.4 | |
| Socialist Workers | George Taylor | Herman Johansen | 14,527 | .3% | |
Robert Patrick Casey Sr. was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 42nd governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 22nd district from 1963 to 1968 and as Auditor General of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1977.
Raymond Philip Shafer was an American attorney and politician who served as the 39th governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. Prior to that, he served as the 23rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967 and as a Pennsylvania state senator from 1959 to 1962. He was a national leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the late 1960s.
Milton Jerrold Shapp was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. He was also the first governor of Pennsylvania to be eligible for, and re-elected to, consecutive four-year terms per the 1968 Pennsylvania Constitution.
The 2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006 and included the races for the Governor of Pennsylvania and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. Incumbent Democratic Governor Ed Rendell successfully ran for re-election. Pennsylvania's first female lieutenant governor, Catherine Baker Knoll, was also running for re-election.
Catherine Baker Knoll was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She was the 30th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving under Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 to 2008, when she died in office. Prior to that, she served as the 72nd Pennsylvania treasurer from 1989 to 1997. She was the first, and to date, the only woman to be lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party (PAGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg.
Jack E. Wagner is an American Democratic politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served as Pennsylvania Auditor General, and previously served in the State Senate and Pittsburgh City Council.
Raymond Joseph "Ray" Broderick was an American jurist and politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 24th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971 and as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The 1994 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. The incumbent governor, Bob Casey, Sr. (Democrat), was barred from seeking a third term by the state constitution. The Republican Party nominated Congressman Tom Ridge, while the Democrats nominated Mark Singel, Casey's lieutenant governor. Ridge went on to win the race with 45% of the vote. Singel finished with 39%, and Constitution Party candidate Peg Luksik finished third, garnering 12% of the vote.
The 1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Incumbent Democratic governor Robert P. Casey easily defeated Republican Barbara Hafer. Governor Casey defeated Hafer by a margin of 35.29%, and carried 66 out of 67 Pennsylvania counties.
The 1986 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Democrat Bob Casey narrowly defeated Republican Bill Scranton III, in a race that featured two very high-profile candidates. As of 2022, this is the most recent Pennsylvania gubernatorial race to have a margin within five points for either party.
The 1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Governor Milton Shapp was constitutionally ineligible to run for a third consecutive term in office. Republican Dick Thornburgh defeated Democrat Pete Flaherty in the general election.
The 1974 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5. Incumbent Democratic Governor Milton Shapp defeated Republican Drew Lewis. Under the state's 1968 constitution, Shapp was the first governor who was eligible to run for consecutive terms.
The 1970 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 3. Democrat Milton Shapp challenged incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Ray Broderick.
Leonard C. Staisey was a Democratic politician from Pennsylvania. Staisey was born in Pittsburgh and lived for most of his life in Duquesne, a nearby mill town. He was a member of the State Senate from 1961 to 1966, when he resigned to run for Lieutenant Governor. Considered a rising star in the party, he ran on a ticket with Milton Shapp, who would lose to Ray Shafer. From 1968 to 1976, he served as an Allegheny County Commissioner and was considered one of the area's last machine politicians. In 1979, he was elected to the position of judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, and he served in this position until he resigned due to illness in 1989. The name of Staisey, who was blind from birth, adorns a Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch specializing in providing reading materials for the blind and physically disabled.
The 1962 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 6. Republican Bill Scranton and Democrat Richardson Dilworth, each a member of a powerful political family, faced off in a bitter campaign.
The 1958 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 4. Democrat David Lawrence defeated Republican Art McGonigle by a smaller than anticipated margin.
The 1954 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 2. In what is considered a crucial realigning election for the state, Democratic State Senator George M. Leader defeated Republican incumbent Lieutenant Governor Lloyd Wood by a large margin, becoming the first Democrat to be elected governor since 1934.
Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States in the 1976 election. Shapp won reelection as governor of Pennsylvania in the 1974 election, the first Pennsylvania governor to be elected to a second four-year term following an amendment permitting this in 1967, and had hoped to translate his relative popularity in Pennsylvania into the groundwork of a successful presidential campaign.
Thomas Zeno Minehart was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Philadelphia City Council, chaired the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, and served as Pennsylvania Auditor General and Pennsylvania Treasurer during the 1960s.
