Jaret Gibbons

One of the state's most closely watched regions Tuesday will be Beaver County, which features one competitive state Senate and three heated state House races.

And like practically every other area in the state, the county has seen a huge voter turnout thus far, Beaver County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sisk told PolitickerPA.com.

A hundred people had lined up outside Sisk's voter precinct by 7 a.m., he said. He said he thinks turnout in his precinct will reach 80 percent.

The still relatively new county chairman thinks that will bode well for the four Democrats running in the county -- state Senate candidate Jason Petrella and state rep. candidates Dennis Rousseau, Vince Biancucci and Jaret Gibbons. 

"Voter registration is 3-to-1 in favor of Democrats," Sisk said. "So according to history, that should be good for us. But you never know, these are changing times."

Petrella's race against Republican Elder Vogel Jr. has been been one of the state's most closely watched campaign as each tries to replace retiring state Sen. Gerald Lavalle (D-Beaver County).

"I'm confident in Jason Petrella," Sisk said. "It'll be close, but I think Jason will win."

HARRISBURG -- Gene Stilp wanted everyone to know what he thought of Tuesday morning's meeting of the House State Government Committee meeting. So the longtime reform activist made an announcement to the handful of legislators and staffers moments before they began debating a bill that would reduce the General Assembly's size.

The whole hearing was a sham, he said, designed for political posturing rather than reform.

"Absolutely nothing will happen" for reform today, he said while standing next to fellow reformer Don Baylor.

Each held a picture of the committee's chairwoman, Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia), with her head superimposed on a beauty pageant contestant's body, a picture meant to deride her efforts at reforming state government. Josephs has become the favorite target of many state reformers because they accuse her of stalling reform legislation in her committee.

Lawmakers dismissed Stilp's antics as showmanship from someone dedicated more to himself than his cause. But they also just as easily dismissed, if much more politely, the bill from state Rep. Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny County) that would reduce the number of state lawmakers to 201, 20 percent fewer than the 253 who serve today.

State Rep. Jaret GibbonsWhile most people are focusing on tomorrow’s primary, Pennsylvania lawmakers have set their sights on next year and beyond, with representatives authoring competing bills that could change the degree of access that independent voters have to future party primaries.

State Rep. Jaret Gibbons introduced a bill last Friday that would give registered Independents a vote in primary elections, according to a press release from her office.

Rep. Chris King also introduced a bill last week, which calls for a "semi-open primary," a type held in New Hampshire and nine other states, according to King.