Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey rolled to a second term in the U.S. Senate in Tuesday's election, finishing strong to fend off a challenge from big-spending Republican Tom Smith in a race not nearly as close as the pollsters suggested it might be.
With 98.82 percent of Pennsylvania's precincts reporting, the 52-year-old Scranton Democrat led Mr. Smith, a farmer and former coal mine operator from Armstrong County, by a margin of 54 percent to 45 percent.
Several hundred cheering supporters greeted Mr. Casey as he arrived at his victory party at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center just before 10:40 p.m. About 40 minutes earlier, he said, he received a call from Mr. Smith conceding the election.
Mr. Casey thanked the people of Pennsylvania for giving him the "rare privilege" of having served them in three offices - auditor general, treasurer and U.S. senator.
With his wife, Terese, looking on, he also expressed gratitude to his family.
"I cannot tell you how much their sacrifice on my behalf means," Mr. Casey said.
Mr. Casey rolled up big leads over Mr. Smith, 65, in Philadelphia and other heavily Democratic areas, including Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. That more than offset the gains his rival made in the state's traditionally GOP-leaning heartland.
With Mr. Casey defeating Mr. Smith and President Barack Obama picking up victories in key battleground states, state Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn told the crowd the election proved Americans want more cooperation and less partisanship.
"Bob Casey stands for that," Mr. Burn said.
Cooperation is going to be paramount in overcoming the challenges in his next term, Mr. Casey said.
"I know we can; I know we must," Mr. Casey said, referencing the nation's economy. "I know we can work together to get this done."
Until August, most polls showed Mr. Casey with a comfortable, double-digit lead over Mr. Smith. But that margin shrank sharply when Mr. Smith began airing television commercials, upping his public profile while attacking Mr. Casey's effectiveness in the Senate and portraying him as a lock-step ally of Mr. Obama.
Mr. Casey's campaign was slow to react, and the incumbent's margin slipped to 5 to 9 points in most polls.
When Mr. Casey did respond, his campaign hit back hard. It branded Mr. Smith, who founded a tea party chapter in Armstrong County, as a radical who was out of touch with mainstream Pennsylvanians, saying the Republican wanted to dismantle Medicare and privatize Social Security while raising taxes on the middle class.
According to campaign reports from late October, Mr. Smith raised $20.3 million while Mr. Casey raised nearly $12.7 million.
The difference between the two, however, stemmed from the source. Nearly all of the money Mr. Casey raised came from contributors while roughly $16.5 million of Mr. Smith's funds were his own.
U.S. senators earn $174,000 annually.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com
U.S SENATE
â Bob Casey (D) 2,899,659
Tom Smith (R) 2,417,029
Rayburn Smith (L) 93,066