Nearly a dozen incumbent lawmakers lost their re-election bids in Tuesday’s primary election including one, possibly two, long-time Republicans who hold top caucus leadership posts.
Rep. Stan Saylor of York County and Sen. Pat Browne of Lehigh County, both Republicans, serve as the majority chairman of the powerful appropriations committee in their respective chambers. In those roles, they review all legislation to determine its fiscal impact on taxpayers and play a role in helping to shape the state budget.
Saylor, who was first elected to the House in 1992, has served as the appropriations committee chairman since 2016. Prior to that, he served in two other leadership posts including whip and education committee chairman.
Browne, meanwhile, served in the House from 1995 to 2005 when he moved over to Senate. He was first elected to serve as its appropriations committee chairman in 2014. Prior to that, he served as whip and chaired several committees.
Saylor handily lost to political newcomer Wendy Fink for the Republican nomination in the 94th state House District seat. Fink captured 56% of the vote to Saylor’s 44%, according to the unofficial vote count with 99% of the votes counted. No Democratic candidate appeared on the ballot for that seat.
In the 16th senatorial district contest, unofficial vote totals show Browne down by a mere 30 votes to a local school board member Jarrett Coleman. The winner of this tight race will face Democrat Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, in the fall.
Other incumbents who faced primary challenges and based on unofficial vote counts appear to have lost were Republican House members Keith Gillespie of York County, Johnathan Hershey of Juniata County, Gary Day of Lehigh County, Mike Puskaric of Allegheny County, and Jason Silvis of Westmoreland County.
On the Democratic side, House incumbents Brian Kirkland of Chester County, Pam DeLissio of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, Isabella Fitzgerald of Philadelphia, and Martell Covington of Allegheny County all were defeated.
Both Saylor and Browne fell in the crosshairs of Lemoyne-based conservative advocacy group Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania that aided the campaigns of their opponents.
Leo Knepper, that group’s political director, said the ads that aired and mailers that CAP helped to fund focused on making the public aware of the incumbents’ voting records and “how they enriched themselves” on the taxpayer’s dime.
“Folks need to hear the message of candidates and they also need to understand essentially why they should fire the people who are already in office,” Knepper said. But he added the ads take a backseat to the candidates and their message and willingness to put in the work to win.
Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland County, was critical of Saylor’s opponent’s decision to use his tenure against him. She said Saylor demonstrated strong leadership for the House Republican Caucus and the south-central Pennsylvania region for a long time. Part of being a leader and serving as appropriations committee chairman sometimes required him to vote yes on legislation when voting against it a “may have been a much easier option,” she said.
“This was simply another way he chose to lead and he will undoubtedly leave big shoes to fill,” Delozier said. “I have the privilege of working with Stan through November and I know he will continue to fight for south-central Pennsylvania during those coming months.”
Saylor, who declined comment, told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star before the primary the contents of the ad targeting him was “a lie.”
Browne could not be reached for comment. But Senate Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Michael Straw indicated they are not throwing in the towel on that race yet.
“Pat Browne is a key member of the Senate Republican Caucus, often leading the fight against Tom Wolf’s tax increases and excess spending,” Straw said. “We are monitoring the results closely as final provisional and mail-in-ballots are counted over the coming days.”
His primary opponent Coleman, meanwhile, declared victory on Wednesday, saying he didn’t see a reason why the results that had him up in the vote count would change.
In an interview with Lehigh Valley Live, Coleman said, “For so long, Republicans voters have not had another choice. So I think this shows the displeasure that people have with their government. Being able to be part of that change is phenomenal, going against the Republican machine.”
Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania also supported GOP incumbent Perry Stambaugh of Perry County in his battle against fellow incumbent Johnathan Hershey of Juniata County for the 86th state House District seat; GOP challenger Joe D’Orsie who defeated 10-term incumbent Keith Gillespie in the 47th House District; and three-term Republican incumbent Aaron Bernstine who found himself in a new district as result of redistricting that included mostly areas he previously did not represent. He fended off a challenge from a local school board president John Kennedy in the GOP contest in the new 8th House District.
Three of the sitting House members who lost their re-election bids – Hershey, Day and Fitzgerald – did so in incumbent-on-incumbent battles due to the recent redrawing of district boundaries. Another one, Covington, was sworn in last month after winning a special election to finish out the term of a seat vacated by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey only to lose his primary bid to Pittsburgh activist La’Tasha Mayes.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
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