By the Numbers: Turnout, GOP See Gains in State College Area

If numbers tell a story, the voter-turnout tallies last week in Centre County should be a bestseller.

The 2010 mid-term elections here saw nearly 700 more voters than the last mid-terms in 2006 did, unofficial election results show. In student-rich precincts where residents vote at the HUB-Robeson Center, turnout swelled by the hundreds: up more than 250 voters in one precinct alone, and up more than 100 apiece in two others.

In State College, turnout in many precincts well outpaced the statewide averages, reaching 55 percent, 60 percent and 65 percent at several borough polling places, respectively.

Same goes for Milesburg (53 percent), Centre Hall (62 percent), Bellefonte (in the 60 percent range) and Port Matilda (56.7 percent).

And while, yes, the overall turnout in the county — about 44.5 percent — was about two percentage points under the statewide average of 46 percent to 47 percent, that doesn’t illustrate the whole story. See, the countywide turnout number is somewhat depressed because some voter rolls on and near the University Park campus are artificially inflated.

Many of the former Penn State students who registered to vote here in the historic 2008 presidential election have since moved away — but haven’t updated their voting addresses. That’s left a relative glut of inactive registrations on file in the county, somewhat hobbling our countywide turnout percentage.

Meanwhile, other numbers suggest that Centre County has taken a step to the right this year. Consider:

• The percentage of voters who cast straight-party ballots was roughly the same as it was in 2006 — close to 99 percent, according to county numbers. But the big two parties had a role reversal. While 55 percent of voters in 2006 cast straight-Democratic ballots, that number this year fell to 45 percent. Straight-Republican ballots accounted for 54.24 percent of the total, up from 43.8 percent in 2006.

• In the most student-rich voting precincts, too, Republicans saw gains. At a few campus precincts, straight-party ballots cast for the GOP went from 26.3 percent, 13.4 percent and 23.8 percent in 2006, respectively, to 40.6 percent, 30.4 percent and 40.3 percent.

• Republican U.S. senatorial nominee Pat Toomey won 51.6 percent of votes cast in Centre County; statewide, his tally was 51 percent. (His rival, Democrat Joe Sestak, won 48.2 percent in Centre County, a bit lower than his 49 percent showing statewide.)

Still, it wasn’t all bad news for Democrats in Centre County. Democratic county Commissioner Jon Eich lost his bid to unseat incumbent state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, but Eich fared better within Centre County than he did in the 34th state Senate District at large. Districtwide, he won about 31 percent of votes; in Centre County, 38.55 percent.

It was a similar story for Michael Pipe, the State College Democrat who took on incumbent U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson, R-Howard. In the sprawling Fifth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, he won 28.3 percent of votes (to Thompson’s 68.6 percent). But within Centre County, Pipe won 38.1 percent (to Thompson’s 58.9 percent).

And state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, held back a challenge from Patton Township Republican Joyce Haas (56.2 percent to 43.6 percent).

Still, it isn’t clear how much Conklin helped the Democratic gubernatorial ticket in Centre County. Conklin, who doubled as his party’s lieutenant-governor nominee, ran with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato. The duo collected 45.4 percent of votes cast in the county, about one tenth of a percentage point less than their statewide average.

The Republican victors in that race, Tom Corbett and Jim Cawley, won with 54.5 percent of the votes, including 54.4 percent of those cast in Centre County.

Local Democratic faithful roundly said Tuesday night that it’s a tough year for their party, that they were fighting an uphill battle against national political trends, even as Democratic registered voters outnumber Republicans by nearly 5,000 in Centre County. Some Democrats said they felt battered by accusations that they were to blame for the country’s ongoing economic woes, even as they tried to reverse the conversation.

Republicans, meanwhile, called the day a victory for their platforms of smaller government and less taxes — and a clear rejection of big-spending policies.

As the pundits say, the pendulum has swung. I just hope we can keep shoving it back and forth with ever-increasing force — and keep those voter turnouts growing year after year, regardless of party affiliations.