Voters Oust Incumbent Corbett in PA Election

Democratic businessman Tom Wolf of York was elected as the next governor of Pennsylvania yesterday in a historically significant defeat of Republican Tom Corbett, who will depart office as the first governor to not gain re-election since gubernatorial terms limits were doubled in the state.

An elated crowd of Wolf supporters gathered at the Utz Center in York after polls closed at 8 p.m. to celebrate and to hear their candidate speak. Those gathered watched the end of Gov. Corbett’s concession speech televised on a large screen in the arena. Some supporters grew restless waiting for Wolf to address the audience.

Wolf finally emerged into the arena at around 9:50 p.m.driving his blue Jeep, which took center stage in an early television ad for the candidate that helped to jump-start his campaign. Wolf addressed the crowd while his wife and two daughters stood behind him onstage. As Wolf began to speak, opponents of fracking in the state shouted out comments as they moved through the crowd. Wolf seemed momentarily distracted as security workers swept in to remove the activists from the audience, but he continued his remarks.

He emphasized the importance of getting the word out that Pennsylvania is “open for business,” and stated his desire to emphasize a more positive attitude toward what lies ahead for the state.

“We’ve got to move away from fear of the future,” Wolf said.

Wolf kept his remarks brief, then spent time shaking hands, signing autographs, and posing for cell phone selfies with supporters.

Note: We will be adding additional election stories, over the next few hours and days, so please keep checking back for new photos and a look at local and state-wide elections.

Lynn Rebuck covers politics for LititzDailyNews.com. She welcomes your emails at [email protected].