Todd Stephens

In one of the closest state House races of the election cycle, state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) appears to have squeezed out a narrow win against Republican Todd Stephens.

Montgomery County Republicans were pegging the race in the 151st Legislative District as their best hope of capturing a Democratic seat. But with all precincts reporting, Taylor, a freshman, was winning by 431 votes, or just over one percentage point.

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."

The PA HDCC has launched a couple of websites attacking Republican House candidates. One attacking State Representative candidate Nick Miccarelli tries to tie the 26-year-old Republican to George Bush, Dick Cheney, Rick Santorum, Curt Weldon and contributor Tony Forte, Jr. The second site goes after Todd Stephens.

This article is by Dan Hirschhorn in Philadelphia and Alex Roarty in Harrisburg.

With control of the state House hanging in the balance this November, Republicans are hoping that their challengers in southeastern Pennsylvania can help return control of the chamber to the GOP. It's an ambitious expectation considering the Democratic trends throughout the Philadelphia suburbs, but one the party says is justified by a strong slate of candidates.

"We have challenger races in southeast that we are convinced we can win," state Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), chair of the state House Republican Campaign Committee, told PolitickerPA.com.

The GOP's hopes, party officials say, are further buoyed by the grassroots enthusiasm generated by vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

"All of that excitement is filtering down to our local races, too," said Tracey Specter, chair of the Lower Merion and Narberth Republican Committee.

The incumbents being most heavily targeted by the GOP, Turzai said, include state Reps. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) and Chris King (D-Middletown). Taylor is being challenged by Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Todd Stephens in the 151st Legislative District, while King faces Frank Farry in the 142nd district.

After Republican state House candidate Todd Stephens challenged his opponent, state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) to debates before Election Day this morning, Taylor campaign manager Danny Friedman e-mailed PolitickerPA.com with this response:

"When the House session is over, there will be time for politics and plenty of vigorous discussion about the work Representative Taylor is doing on behalf of our families, to make health care more affordable and reform Harrisburg. And Mr. Stephens will have an opportunity to defend his extreme positions and some of the choices he's made over the past few years."

Republican state House hopeful Todd Stephens today challenged state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) to debate him before Election Day, asking local organizations in the 151st Legislative District to host debates.

“The voters of the 151st District deserve every opportunity to learn about our vision for the future,” Stephens, an assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, said in a statement. “I look forward to any opportunity to debate my opponent to provide voters an informed choice on Election Day.”

A campaign spokesman for Taylor did not immediately comment.

A federal agency has told state House candidate Todd Stephens that he is not in violation of the Hatch Act, a response to questions raised by Montgomery County Democrats.

In July, Montgomery County Democratic Committee Chairman Marcel Groen asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to examine whether Stephens, in his role as assistant district attorney in the county, was breaking the Hatch Act, a federal law governing the political activities of those in government positions. Groen's original request spotlighted Stephens' role on a federally funded task force.

But in a letter sent to Stephens late last month, Hatch Act Unit attorney Erica Hamrick said Stephens, a Republican, was in the clear. She said the office had determined that the county's Sex Crimes Unit, which Stephens heads, does not receive federal funding. Provisions of the Hatch Act prohibit municipal employees whose jobs or activities are federally funded from running in partisan elections.

Republicans had hardly begun criticizing him for his possible, if indirect, connection to the infamous "Bonusgate" scandal when state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) settled on a way to try and silence the critics: through legislation.

Taylor said Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to permanently ban bonuses to legislative staffers, a move that may not make him as popular with his employees as with voters.

"Like every other taxpayer in Pennsylvania, I was shocked, outraged and deeply saddened after reviewing the initial findings of the attorney general's investigation into the awarding of bonuses in the state legislature," Taylor said in a statement. "Now, more than ever, it is clear that to achieve true reform in Harrisburg we must create a transparent and open government while eliminating those practices which are most susceptible to abuse.

"The arbitrary awarding of financial bonuses is, sadly and unmistakably, one such practice," he added.

Taylor faces a reelection fight against Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Todd Stephens in the 151st Legislative District.

In some of the first political fallout from the "Bonusgate" scandal, Republicans are calling on state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) to disclose who all of his campaign workers were in 2006.

The request comes in the wake of numerous charges brought by state Attorney General Tom Corbett, in which legislative staffers of House Democrats are accused of doing political work on the taxpayers' dime.

Taylor is running against Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Todd Stephens in the 151st House District. As Republicans note, Taylor's 2006 campaign is mentioned in the charges, though the incumbent himself is not implicated in wrongdoing. One of the indicted House staffers, Rachel Manzo, is cited in the charges for doing work on Taylor's campaign in 2006, and another employee, Beth Marietta, testified that she worked on Taylor's campaign as was paid by the House, not by Taylor or the party chamber's Democratic Campaign Committee.

"Rick Taylor needs to account for Rachel Manzo and Beth Marietta's time," Montgomery County Republican Committee Chairman Robert Kerns said in a statement. "He also needs to account for any other taxpayer money spent on his campaign in 2006."

Kerns also called for Taylor to reimburse taxpayers $15,185 for a bonus given to Manzo.

Taylor campaign manager Danny Friedman told The Intelligencer that Taylor was outraged by the actions that led to Corbett's charges, but that there were no taxpayer employees on the campaign staff.

"If convicted, these rogue operatives should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, including full restitution by those convicted to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania," he said. "Unfortunately, the Republican attack machine is now on the move ... (Taylor) has made certain that there are no state employees on his campaign staff."

Democrats in Montgomery County are raising Hatch Act questions about a Republican candidate for the state House, saying his role as an assistant district attorney involved in a federally-funded taskforce prohibits him from running in a partisan election.

The candidate at issue is Todd Stephens, the Assistant District Attorney for Montgomery County who is currently running against state Rep. Rick Taylor (D-Ambler) in the 151st Legislative District. While Stephens' campaign denies any Hatch Act issues are remotely at play, the Montgomery County Democratic Committee has asked the federal Office of Special Counsel to offer its opinion on the matter.

Democrats are seizing on Stephens' role with the county's Sex Crimes Unit, through which he works with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The task force itself is federally funded, and provisions of the Hatch Act prohibit municipal employees whose jobs or activities are federally funded from running in partisan elections.

In a statement, Montgomery Democratic Committee Chair Marcel Groen called on Stephens to either cease his election bid or step down from prosecutorial post.

"Mr. Stephens is ignoring the law as he campaigns for himself and at the same time administers a program supported by federal funds," Groen said.

Whether the Democrats' interpretation of the law is applicable is a matter of fierce debate. County officials say no federal funding comes directly to Stephens' office, and while District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman could not be reached by PolitickerPA.com late last week, she told The Intelligencer that the Democrats were "just plain wrong."

Stephens spokesman Jason Ercole called the move "a political gimmick."

"I think it's a joke that the Democrats and Rep. Taylor would attack a career prosecutor who's putting the safety of kids at the top of his priorities," he said.