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Mensch wins special election to Pa. Senate
Republican Robert B. Mensch of Pennsburg easily won a special election yesterday to fill a state Senate vacancy in the northern reaches of the Philadelphia suburbs.
Mensch, 64, a retired marketing and sales executive in his second term as a member of the state House, will move over to the Senate side of the Capitol to complete the remaining 15 months of a term won in 2006 by Republican Rob Wonderling.
He said his pro-business, low-tax policies would be much like those of Wonderling, who quit the Senate over the summer to become president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
"I'm not sure that I'm that different," Mensch said. "I believe that Pennsylvania government is too large, and we spend too much money."
With all machine votes counted in the 24th Senatorial District, which covers parts of four counties, Mensch was leading Democrat Anne Henning Scheuring, a Lansdale Borough councilwoman, with two-thirds of the vote.
Mensch rolled up big margins in Montgomery, Bucks, and Lehigh Counties. He won by a lesser, but still substantial, margin in Northampton County.
Libertarian Party candidate Barbara Steever, of Barto, received a few percentage points of the vote.
If Mensch chooses to seek a full term next year, he won't get much rest from his campaign labors. He will be right back on the ballot in the spring GOP primary seeking a full four-year mandate.
State Democrats had complained that a low-turnout special election was unnecessary because the regular general election is coming up Nov. 3. The election was called by Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati, a Republican whose campaign committee gave $25,000 to Mensch.
Democrats said Republicans got their candidate lined up, then called the election. Democrats said they were caught off guard. Scheuring said yesterday that she was at least the third person party leaders had asked to take the nomination.
"I was glad to step forward," she said.
The Republicans already held a 29-20 advantage in the Senate, so the election was not about which party would hold the balance of power.
But each major party spent gobs of money on the race. When expenditures are added up, it could prove one of the costliest elections of its kind in state history.
Republican leaders announced Aug. 6 that they had selected Mensch as their candidate. Five weeks later, Mensch reported that he had raised $162,000 and had received $94,000 in aid from Republican groups.
Democratic leaders took a week longer than Republicans to pick Scheuring. But once they got going, they, too, dug deep. As of Sept. 14, according to a report filed with the state, Scheuring had raised just $24,000. But Democratic groups had helped her with $119,000 in spending.
Marcel Groen, the Montgomery County Democratic chairman, estimated that over the final two weeks of the campaign his party spent an additional $200,000 to $250,000. That will not be reported officially until later.
Michael Barley, spokesman for the Republican State Committee, said the battle was partly about gaining momentum for elections to come in the next year or so. Republicans see signs that after dismal showings in the last few elections they may have a chance to make gains.
"Coming off 2006 and 2008, anything positive is good for us," Barley said. "We feel like we're going in the right direction."
For Democrats, the election represented a chance to expand gains they have made in the suburbs and Lehigh Valley. The Senate is the one area of state government where the GOP currently has control.
Contact staff writer Tom Infield at 610-313-8205 or tinfield@phillynews.com.
