ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Republican candidate Pat Toomey prevailed in a tight race for one of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seats after Democratic opponent Joe Sestak conceded early Wednesday morning.
Toomey received 51 percent of the vote to Sestak’s 49, with 99.42 percent of districts counted. Toomey was ahead by about 75,000 votes.
The news comes after the sudden tightening of the race in recent weeks. On Oct. 16, polls suggested that the race would be a toss-up after several weeks of large leads for Toomey.
Cheers filled Toomey’s watch party in Allentown after the news was announced.
About 30 percent of voters turned out in Philadelphia, a crucial city for Democrats. This is lower than the voter turnout in 2006 of 43.6 percent.
“Toomey will do an outstanding job representing Pennsylvania’s 12-plus million residents and 67 counties,” said David Urban, former chief of staff for Sen. Arlen Specter. “He’s off to a great start right now with the Pennsylvania delegation.”
In his acceptance speech, Toomey emphasized his plans to extend former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts to all citizens, regardless of financial income.
He also said he will move forward in the Senate with bipartisan efforts. “[President] Barack Obama is not our enemy,” Toomey said. “He is our President.”
“The country needs a bipartisan partnership to fully recover,” said Jeff Zeitlin, attended Toomey’s campaign event. “The strengths of Toomey with Obama’s leadership is what we need.”
Steve Ulrich of New Buffalo, Pa., who was also at the event, praised Toomey’s acceptance speech.
“He lent a hand across the aisle. He was elected by all of Pennsylvania, not just a single party,” Ulrich said. “He’s clearly a man of class.”
The watch party overall was on edge as the night progressed.
Mark Harris, spokesman for Toomey’s campaign, described the night as “a roller coaster.”
“There were varying points in the night when it was touch-and-go, and until the last hour we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Harris said.
He described the victory as a “solid 2-percent” lead. “We’re very pleased with that,” he said.
According to Harris, Toomey did better in every county than they expected, except for Philadelphia. “Philadelphia had come out to vote,” he said.
He also said Sestak ran “a great race.”
“They should be proud,” Harris said, referring to Sestak’s campaign. “This was a great demonstration of democracy.”
When asked why the campaign was successful, Harris pointed to the “retirees in Lancaster who donated $15.”
“They were the key to tonight’s win.”
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