Connie Williams

PLYMOUTH MEETING-What Republicans were hoping would be a competitive race for an open state Senate seat in Montgomery County ended in a romp Tuesday night, as state Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Upper Merion) was projected to move to Harrisburg's upper chamber.

With all precincts reporting, Leach was beating Republican Lower Merion Commissioner Lance Rogers by more than 30 points. He had more than 54,000 votes, compared to just over 29,000 for Rogers.

Pending certification of the results, he will take the 17th Senatorial District seat being vacated by state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery).

He greeted cheering supporters here late Tuesday night, shortly after networks had called the presidency for Barack Obama.

"This is the best night that ever happened, isn't it?" he asked.

It's been a tough couple years for the Montgomery County Republican Committee. Registration gains that were already moving in the Democrats' favor accelerated greatly with the excitement over the presidential race. Factions of the party are split, with the two Republican County Commissioners locked in a political feud that has given Democrats more control of local policy, and seats long-held by the GOP seem increasingly in danger.

County Republicans hope they can emerge from this political minefield on Election Day and bolster their sagging presence in the Philadelphia suburbs. There are Democratic seats in state legislature they hope to capture, and Republican seats where they hope to stave off fierce challenges. By some counts, at least five Harrisburg offices are in play. A best-case scenario could do wonders for the party organization. A worst-case outcome, though, could cement its minority status in the county for the coming years.

"This will be a pivotal moment," said Chris Borick, a pollster and political scientist at Muhlenberg College. "It's been a tough run for Republicans in Montgomery County over the last few years. If they have another bad night and see a lot of these down-ballot races break from them, it will further confirm that the county is slipping away from them."

Photo provided by the Lance Rogers campaign

A bumper sticker on state Rep. Daylin Leach's taxpayer-provided car

In a move that is almost certainly illegal, and definitely ill-advised only months after Bonusgate, state Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Upper Merion) has been sporting a Barack Obama campaign bumper sticker on his taxpayer-provided car, his opponent has pointed out.

Leach is running to replace retiring state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery) in the 17th Senatorial District. The campaign of his Republican opponent, Lower Merion Commissioner Lance Rogers, e-mailed reporters pictures of what is clearly Leach's car, identified by the license plate number of his 149th Legislative District. A Hebrew-language Barack Obama sticker graces the bumper.

"We already knew that Mr. Leach has no problem forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for his car, his car insurance, his gas, and his car repairs," Rogers spokesman Brad Goodman said. "We already knew that Mr. Leach has no problem forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for his political advertising in the form of ‘legislative mailers.' Now we've learned that Mr. Leach also thinks it's OK to place political advertising on state owned property."

Leach campaign manager Kristen Stoner said the campaign had no comment.

It's a surprising move by Leach, coming just months after lawmakers in the House Democratic Caucus have found themselves under fire in the Bonusgate scandal, in which taxpayer resources were allegedly used for political work.

"In light of the Bonusgate scandal, you would have to be an idiot to mix politics and state paid offices, vehicles etc.," said Larry Otter, an election law expert who has worked for both Democrats and Republicans. "There is no shortage of idiots in Pennsylvania politics."

The race to succeed retiring state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery) is emerging as a high-stakes, big-money affair, with both candidates turning heads with their robust fundraising hauls and some political insiders seeing a closer-than-expected race developing.

State Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Upper Merion) is running against Republican Lower Merion Township Commissioner Lance Rogers to replace Williams in the 17th Senatorial District, which includes Conshohocken, Norristown, Narberth and Radnor. Both candidates are considered rising stars in their parties, and both have lived up to their reputations by piling up impressive campaign war chests over the last several months.

Leach, who some political watchers peg as the favorite since he already represents part of the increasingly Democratic district, raised more than $326,000 between May and October, and benefited from an additional $226,000 in in-kind contributions, according to his 5th cycle campaign finance report filed last week.

"I'm very gratified that people in very tough economic times have supported our campaign," Leach told PolitickerPA.com in an interview Monday. "I think it's a testament to some of the work we've been doing in Harrisburg."

Despite the difficult climate for GOP candidates, Rogers raised more than $377,000 in the same period and collected almost $148,000 in in-kind contributions. Rogers' campaign had about $35,000 in debt at the end of the period, but still had more than $20,000 in cash on hand for the closing two weeks before Election Day. (Rogers' report had not yet been published on the Department of State Web site Wednesday but the campaign provided a copy to PolitickerPa.com.)

"Our success in fundraising has been a strong indicator of the momentum we have in this race and how hard we're working," Rogers said.

Leach has significantly more money to spend for the homestretch, with his report showing more than $110,000 in cash on hand, and his campaign saying almost $50,000 in donations have come in since the close of the reporting period last week.

Each has raised more money than even some Congressional candidates.

"Having close to a million dollars spent on a state Senate race is more than you’d expect," said Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. "It’s a good indicator of how the 17th is seen as a key district and one that is absolutely in play this time around.

"Those figures are clearly a signal that both parties think they’ve got a legitimate chance," he added. "It’s clearly above what you’d see in the average state senate race in Pennsylvania."

With few state Senate races expected to be competitive affairs, the 17th District race has become the most closely watched in southeastern Pennsylvania. Both parties are heavily invested, with Democrats spending big to hold onto the seat and Republicans shelling out money to capture it.

Voters in Montgomery County's 17th Senatorial District are getting robo-calls asking them to support state Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Upper Merion) from a familiar voice: Gov. Ed Rendell.

In a robo-call on behalf of Leach's campaign for state Senate, Rendell says: "As you know, your great Senator Connie Williams is retiring. Connie and I are both supporting Daylin Leach for Senate because he’ll make a terrific Senator."

Leach is running against Republican Lance Rogers for the seat being vacated by Williams, it what has become an increasingly heated campaign, a fact alluded to by Rendell.

The district also includes Haverford and Radnor Townships in Delaware County. Audio of the robo-call:

With the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur over, both presidential campaigns are unleashing surrogates today to court Jewish voters in Philadelphia.

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was scheduled to stump for Republican John McCain at the B'rith Shalom House on Conshohocken Avenue this morning before visiting the Congregation of Shaare Shamayim this afternoon.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington), state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery), state Rep. Josh Shapiro (D-Abington), state Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Upper Merion) and former Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Saidel were scheduled to stump for Barack Obama at the Klein Jewish Community Center this afternoon.

The campaign trail action underscores how neither candidate is taking local Jewish voters for granted

Republican state senate candidate Lance Rogers has launched an attack on television against Daylin Leach.  Both men are fighting to replace Connie Williams in the 17th senate district.  

State Senate Democrats, eager to narrow the Republican majority, are pegging their hopes on a few open seats.

Republicans currently hold a 29-21 advantage in the chamber, a majority Democrats hope to erase in two years. But for now, the immediate focus is on seats without incumbents.

"We are looking at a couple of open seats, and we're very optimistic about them," state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery), who is chairing the Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee, told PolitickerPA.com in an interview this week.

With state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery) set to retire after this year, and legislative business in Harrisburg expected to be limited during a busy campaign season, Williams' 11-year career in the state legislature is all but over.

But that's not slowing her down.

Williams, who has represented the 17th Senatorial District since late 2001 after five years in the state House, is chairing the Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee this year, overseeing the party's efforts to cut into the Republican majority in the upper chamber.

The committee, under Williams' leadership, hopes to pick up two or three seats this fall, with the long-term goal of taking majority control in 2010.

"It's how I started," Williams told PolitickerPA.com recently of ending her career on the campaign trail. "I love campaigns."

DENVER--His campaign gaining momentum in a district growing more Democratic by the day, state Rep. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) seems increasingly confident that he will ascend to the state Senate after this fall's election.

Leach is running to replace retiring state Sen. Connie Williams (D-Montgomery) in the 17th Senatorial District. He faces Republican Lance Rogers.

In an interview with PolitickerPa.com this morning, Leach said his campaign had knocked on 8,000 doors in the district, which includes parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties. A recent internal campaign poll, he said, showed him beating Rogers by 24 points.

"That said, you never take anything for granted," Leach said. "You always campaign like you're one vote behind."