Angry taxpayers on Tuesday tossed out the two Republican Senate leaders who helped engineer last year's legislative pay raise, an issue that apparently cost 15 House members their jobs, too.
Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer of Altoona, and Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill of Lebanon County conceded to their challengers, becoming the first lawmakers in major leadership posts to lose a primary election in 42 years. The House defeats would be the most since 1980.
"We have had a dramatic earthquake in Pennsylvania," said Jubelirer, a 32-year legislator.
The defeats of Jubelirer and Brightbill "will send shock waves throughout he political establishment for years to come," said Mike Young, a retired Penn State University political science professor.
Brightbill, 63, a lawmaker since 1982, lost to Mike Folmer, 50, a tire salesman who served briefly on Lebanon City Council and preached a message that it's "time for Republicans to be Republicans again." Brightbill came under fire for becoming a tax-and-spend career politician.
"The people have spoken," Jubelirer, 69, said shortly after congratulating his challenger, Blair County Commissioner John Eichelberger. "They have said this is a time for change. It is a historic year."
Eichelberger, 47, said the race was about redefining the Republican Party.
Pittsburgh entrepreneur Glen Meakem, founder and former CEO of FreeMarkets, said Eichelberger's win represents a victory for people who believe the private sector -- and not government -- drives growth and jobs for Pennsylvania. He supported Eichelberger early.
"We had a government that was concerned with their perks and their salaries and their retirement, their patronage and tax breaks for the people who support them," Meakem said. "It should be about responsibility and service and limited government."
Some local incumbent lawmakers were defeated.
State Rep. Tom Stevenson, R-Mt. Lebanon, lost to political newcomer Mark Harris, 21, a recent college graduate who grabbed 45 percent of the vote.
"The pay raise got people out, but at the end of the day, it was our message that sold. I think the Republican Party said 'enough is enough' for politics-as-usual," Harris said.
In West Mifflin, state Rep. Kenneth Ruffing lost by 1,881 votes to newcomer William Kortz. Ruffing drew headlines when he refused to disclose the name of the charity to whom he donated his pay raise.
Veteran state Rep. Frank Pistella of Morningside lost the Democratic nod to attorney Lisa Bennington, who captured 58 percent of the vote.
In Lawrence County, another legislative veteran, Rep. Frank LaGrotta of Ellwood City lost by a mere 29 votes to challenger Jaret Gibbons, a law clerk who attends the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
"I thought the pay raise was a key factor," Gibbons said.
Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA, a statewide reform coalition, was elated by the returns.
"Stunning -- just stunning," said Potts. "It tells me there is a terrific opportunity for citizens to reform their government, to create the kind of government they want. "
The late night pay raise for lawmakers, judges and other top state officials, approved by the Legislature last July, sparked taxpayer outrage that led to a repeal of the law in November. People protested the hefty raises and the passage of the salary increase without debate at 2 a.m.
Political consultant Young said Brightbill, in particular, "became one of the most visible symbols of arrogant Harrisburg establishment power."
Two House Democratic leaders -- Minority Leader Bill DeWeese of Greene County and Minority Whip Mike Veon of Beaver County -- secured apparent primary victories despite their roles as architects of the pay raise. Veon was the sole legislator to vote against repealing the raises.
Veon, of Beaver Falls, defeated retired educator Jay Paisley by 59 percent to 41 percent, with 95 percent of precincts reporting. He entered the ballroom of The Berkshire in his hometown last night to the jubilant chants, "We like Mike."
"This was not an effort to be vindicated," Veon said, acknowledging the pay raise issue would continue to resonate in the fall. "I just ask people to look past that controversial issue."
History shows it's difficult to unseat top incumbents.
Powerful Republican M. Harvey Taylor was the last legislative leader defeated in a primary. The former Senate president pro tempore lost a 1964 contest in Harrisburg.
Historically, "more leaders have left by retiring, indictment, or by death, than losing an election," said G. Terry Madonna, political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster County.
Sixty-one of the 198 incumbents seeking re-election faced primary opposition -- more than in any year since 1980. That year, 14 incumbents were defeated in primaries, according to an analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg think tank. The Legislature next year also will include 30 new people because of retirements.
Despite the pay raise controversy, challengers faced steep odds. During the 1990s, only 1 percent of incumbent lawmakers lost primary elections, according to a recently released book, "Elections in Pennsylvania: A Century of Partisan Conflict in the Keystone State," by Jack Treadway, chairman of the political science department at Kutztown University in Berks County.
Incumbents have "a big fund-raising advantage," said Treadway, and lawmakers also benefit from staffs who prepare newsletters and from state grants they can hand out in their districts.
"It's very difficult to take these guys on," he said.
The pay raise didn't bother Marie McMasters, 58, of Waynesburg, Greene County, who continued her pattern of voting for DeWeese.
"I think he has Greene County's best interests in mind," she said.
Terence Keenan disagreed, saying he voted for Democrat Robert Danko because DeWeese has been in office too long.
"I think they take it for granted that they'll be in there forever," Keenan said. "I think (DeWeese) is a competent politician, but how long can you go at the same job?"
Some voters said they had good reason to keep Veon in office.
"He's got a lot of time already there," said Thomas Jones, 44, of Beaver Falls. "A new guy would have to start from the bottom. I never heard of Jay Paisley (before this election). Veon is the Democratic Whip. I think he's got some clout."
But Mike Eckhardt, 58, also of Beaver Falls, disagreed, saying he voted for Paisley because "he's not entrenched in the system."
Veon's tenure hasn't necessarily helped the district, Eckhardt said.
"What's it done for Beaver Falls?" he said. "It's not booming here."
