The Pennsylvania gubernational election of 1982 was held on November 2, 1982 between incumbent Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Dick Thornburgh

Dick Thornburgh

Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S...

 and Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 U.S. Congressman Allen E. Ertel

Allen E. Ertel

Allen Edward Ertel is a Democratic politician, and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania....

.

Thornburgh, who maintained high approval ratings during his first term, was initially considered a shoe-in for reelection, especially after the Democrat's top candidate, Philadelphia District Attorney (and future governor) Ed Rendell

Ed Rendell

Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...

 declined to seek the nomination. Ertel struggled early with fundraising and, because of his residence in heavily Republican Central Pennsylvania, lacked a base among the state's strongest Democratic constituents: urban voters and organized labor. However, as a serious recession hit the state, Ertel campaigned hard against the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, whom Ertel blamed for failing to protect the state's manufacturing sector; Thornburgh was forced to distance himself from his party's executive, as support for Reaganomics

Reaganomics

Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, also known as supply-side economics and called trickle-down economics, particularly by critics...

 waned.http://books.google.com/books?id=1J_9q-lIWRkC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=1998+ridge+itkin&source=bl&ots=AK6b-Ut25d&sig=ln8QefiZodyBTkRiIzEYxTt21Ro&hl=en&ei=cPjETOLTOoOglAenj8EH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=1998%20ridge%20itkin&f=false

The state's political environment strongly favored Ertel not only because of national issues, but because the governmental cuts undertaken by Thornburgh during his term as governor had caused him to lose the support of severally traditionally Democratic-leaning organizations that had once stood by his side, such as the NAACP and the state's teachers' union. However, Ertel ran a relatively mediocre campaign and hurt his chances with several gaffes, such as accusing the governor of exploiting his handicapped son's condition for political gain. Ertel's own mistakes were considered to be a crucial component in Thornburgh's win. http://books.google.com/books?id=1J_9q-lIWRkC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=1998+ridge+itkin&source=bl&ots=AK6b-Ut25d&sig=ln8QefiZodyBTkRiIzEYxTt21Ro&hl=en&ei=cPjETOLTOoOglAenj8EH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=1998%20ridge%20itkin&f=false

Democratic

• Allen Ertel, US Congressman
  • runningmate: James Lloyd
    James R. Lloyd
    James R. Lloyd, Jr. is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he served from 1979 until 1984. He was first elected on April 23, 1979.-References:...
    
    , State Senator

Republican

• Dick Thornburgh
  Dick Thornburgh
  Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S...
  
  , incumbent Governor
  • runningmate: Bill Scranton III, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1982
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	Dick Thornburgh Dick Thornburgh Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburgh is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S...	Bill Scranton III	1,872,784	50.84%
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Allen Ertel Allen E. Ertel Allen Edward Ertel is a Democratic politician, and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania....	James Lloyd James R. Lloyd James R. Lloyd, Jr. is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he served from 1979 until 1984. He was first elected on April 23, 1979.-References:...	1,772,353	48.11%
	Socialist Workers Socialist Workers Party (United States) The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...	Mark Zola	Wilson Osteen, Jr.	15,495	0.42%
	Consumer	Lee Frissell	Judith Faulkner	13,101	0.36%
	Libertarian Libertarian Party (United States) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...	Richard Fuerle	David Walter	10,252	0.28%
Totals				3,683,985	100.00%
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					64.60%