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Republicans in Chester County had high hopes that their territory would once again be a GOP stronghold. It was the only county in the Philadelphia suburbs that went for President Bush in 2004, and down-ballot Democrats had made only marginal gains in winning local and state-level elections.

But after Barack Obama carried the county by almost 10 points and Republicans lost three competitive state House races, including two open seats, GOP Chairman Skip Brion had somber words for his rank-and-file. In an email message last week, obtained by PolitickerPA.com, he asked committee leaders to review the results in their precincts, and be prepared to improve reach-out efforts to constituents.

"...despite some very hard work and very qualified candidates, we could not hold the tide of the ‘perfect storm,'" Brion wrote (full text of email after the jump). "Some of the house races, we lost by only a few hundred votes."

He called a special meeting for the party committee on Nov. 24 to determine how to "move forward."

"We also need some frank discussion among ourselves," Brion wrote. "Even with the perfect storm on Tuesday, we are still a strong Republican county. But it is time to rework, reflect, and learn from this election. We must do better."

Chester County Republicans have endorsed financial advisor John Lawrence to replace Curtis Mason on the ballot for state House in the 13th Legislative District, a prominent local lawmaker told supporters this weekend.

In an email Friday night, obtained by PolitickerPA.com, state Rep. Curt Schroder (R-East Brandywine) announced that Mason had dropped out of the race against Democrat Tom Houghton. He described Lawrence, a senior account officer at JP Morgan, as a "conservative, young family man."

With Republican incumbent Rep. Art Hershey not seeking re-election and Chester County in a state of political flux, the race is expected to be a fiercely fought one. In his email, Schroder called Lawrence a step up from Mason, who The Inquirer reports withdrew for health reasons. Both men have challenged Hershey in the past, with Houghton running a close race against the incumbent in 2006 and Lawrence challenging Hershey in that year's Republican primary.

"He actually ran against Art in the primary last time and came with 6 points or so of winning," Schroder said in his e-mail. "I don't know where John stands on every issue. I can tell you with great certainty that he will be light years better than Curtis Mason. I spoke to John Lawrence today and he is excited and ready to campaign hard to win the seat. I truly believe he has a better chance of winning the seat than the former candidate did for reasons that I would rather not go in to."