Romney, Knorr among winners of Tuesday’s Pa. Primary
Pa. primary results give nod to Romney and Knorr.
Originally published in The Voice
On Tuesday, it was time for the voices of Pennsylvania residents to be heard at the polls. Primaries were held here in Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut on April 24. In Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney won the GOP presidential race with 58 percent of the vote.
After suspending his campaign two weeks ago, Rick Santorum, who is the former senator from Pennsylvania, was still on the ballot and managed to come in second with over 18 percent of the vote. Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich made up for the bottom 25 percent collectively.
Turnout at the Nelson Field House, where the polling location was moved to from the Kehr Union for this primary, did not have a large turnout. A limousine sponsored by BU Luxury housing spent the day transporting students from campus to the Field House.
“It seems to me that Romney will be the nominee whether we like it or not,” said Junior Dana Wieller. “It seems unfair to voters this early to have such limited decisions in the GOP field to choose from.”
Romney has actually been on a winning streak lately. He received big nods in Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, and now Pennsylvania and New York. He sits at 844 delegates. Romney’s closest opponent is Santorum with 260 delegates. A total of 1,144 delegates are needed for the nomination.
NBC News reported early Wednesday morning that Gingrich will be suspending his campaign on May 1. They also reported that he would be endorsing Romney upon leaving his fight for the presidency.
Tuesday night in New Hampshire Romney said to a crowd of supporters, “Together we are going to win on November 6.” Romney is predicted to beef up his staff according to political analysts from less than 100 employees to over 500 by the end of May.
The attorney general race was also highly anticipated going into Election Day. Numerous ads were run on behalf of both candidates. Kathleen Kane won the race against Patrick Murphy. Kane with 52.8 percent of the vote beat the over 47 percent for Murphy. Kane is originally from Lackawanna County.
Locally, the democratic seat for the 109th legislative district was voted on. Two democrats, Bloomsburg Mayor Dan Knorr and James Geffken, were on the ballot to go up against Milliard in November. Knorr was able to obtain 73 percent of the vote. There were 2,080 votes cast in Knorr’s favor compared to Geffken’s 783 votes.
Knorr is a 2007 political science graduate from Bloomsburg University and is currently finishing up his master’s degree in business administration at BU.
“I am very proud and honored to be the democratic nominee,” said Knorr over the phone. “We need a more active form of leadership in government.”
Representative David Millard has served the 109th district since 2004, after winning the 2003 special election to replace the seat of John Gordner. Millard is a lifelong resident of Columbia County and hopes to win the seat again in November.
“I am going to take my opponent very seriously, like I always do to secure re-election and provide the services to the area that I was elected to do,” said Millard. “I have a proven track record in being successful on numerous local issues.”
Knorr says that there are big problems that need to be fixed in Harrisburg. He says that one of the biggest problems is the lack of economic leadership. He hopes to make changes in order for people to feel more comfortable starting business in our state.
When it comes to the 20 percent cuts to higher education Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in February, Knorr says that the expense of higher education in our state is not where we need to be cutting from. Millard says he does not support the current proposal either.
“We may be saving a dollar now, but it will cost us a lot more ten years down the road,” Knorr says. “I don’t support education taking a beating two years in a row,” said Millard. “I am working with other legislatures to ensure education and social services are protected.”
From now until November will be an important time in campaigning for these politicians to ensure a successful win in the fall.
“Getting my name out there and letting people know who I am and what I stand for,” is what Knorr says he will be doing a lot of now that he is the nominee.
