ELECTION UPDATE: County's partisan lines blurred

Pike goes for McCain while re-electing Carney By Nick Troiano MILFORD — Pike County retained a purple tint this presidential election, opting to send its Democratic Congressman, Chris Carney back for a second term but stopping 1,000 votes short of favoring President-elect Barack Obama. State Representative John Siptroth swept the 189th district, defeating his Republican opponent, John Sivick. Republican Mike Peifer of the 139th district ran unopposed. Unofficially, the machine vote turnout was up about 3,000 votes, 14 percent, higher than the 2004 presidential election. Yolanda Goldsack, head of Pike County Board of Elections, was not able to determine if this was a record for the county. Including absentee and military ballots, the unofficial 24,882 ballots cast and counted by print time makes up 54.37% of registered voters in Pike County. News networks instantly called Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes for Senator Obama upon the close of polls Tuesday evening, foreshadowing a decisive victory that came at the 11 pm hour. McCain’s margin of victory in Pike County was 15 points smaller than that of George Bush in 2004. Obama carried the state by about 11 points overall. The 10th congressional district swung in the incumbent’s favor by 12 points. Winning 13 of the district’s 14 counties, Chris Carney will return for the 111th session on Congress. His reelection in this relatively conservative district comes on the heels of a second consecutive Republican upset. By print time, the party was on pace to lose close to twenty seats in the House and another five in the Senate, giving Democrats a commanding control of Congress. Not since 1992 has the Democratic Party held both branches of government. Chris Hackett, Carney’s republican challenger, ran on a strict fiscal platform and against what he claimed was his opponent’s liberal voting record. According to the Washington Post, Carney voted with his Democratic colleagues 88.6% of the time, yet the member of the Homeland Security Committee is widely perceived to be a moderate based on his pro-2nd amendment platform and extensive military record. Carney most recently broke with his party on the highly controversial economic bailout plan. Hackett faced strong criticism in the general election over hiring an illegal alien to work in his home and for his small business failing to appropriately pay taxes on several occasions. In addition, he emerged from a harsh primary campaign that alienated many Republican voters. Federal Election Commission records last updated on October 15th show that Hackett, who was heavily supported by the Club for Growth, self-financed over half of his campaign, which spent upwards of $2.8 million. Carney, whose seat in Congress is highly valued by Democrats ever since ousting Don Sherwood in an ethical quagmire two years ago, received almost double the campaign cash from his party than Hackett. In addition, Leadership PACs, often formed by elected officials to help colleagues in tough campaigns, donated at least $138,000 to Carney in his reelection bid. Carney drew national attention when USA Today reported the freshman congressman received the most earmarks out of new members, some $18.3 million worth-the earmarks were distributed to members most vulnerable in this week’s election as a way to sure up support in home districts.