This Tuesday there will be a special election to fill the PA State Senate seat of Jane Orie (the 40th) who has been convicted of using her staff for campaign purposes.  The main candidates are the Republican Randy Vulakovich and Democrat Sharon Brown.  The district covers the blue area in the map at the right and has about 250,000 people.  This the district where Gov. Tom Corbett lives. 

Vulakovich is likely to be a yes man for Corbett while Brown says on her website that she wants to restore many of the cuts that the Governor has imposed.  Brown has a background in epidemiology and public health so she is well versed in the need for single payer.  I do not live in that district but I would be happy to vote for her.  

In the 2014 cycle, the more progressive Senator Jim Ferlo’s district (in yellow on the map above) may be redrawn to include part of the more conservative 40th.  This is pending a court challenge by Ferlo.

**Update**

Randy Vulakovich won the election with 16,300 votes or 73% and Sharon Brown had 6,026 or 27% according to the PA Department of State’s website.  Brown ran a little better in Allegheny County with 28% or 4,704.  I don’t have an estimate of the voting age population for PA 40th district but less than 10% of it’s total population voted in this election.  One must be careful about generalizing the results of this election to the district as a whole.  The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that some voters were unaware of the special election.  The Gazette did report that 13.57% of registered voters in Allegheny County voted.

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States as Laboratories and Lavatories of Democracy