Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, like neighboring New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, has swung from being a 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...

-leaning state during much of the 20th century to a more competitive state in national presidential election

Presidential election

A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is president.- United States :The United States has elections on the state and local levels...

s. Pennsylvania has backed the 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...

 Presidential candidate in every election since 1992. In 2008 Obama won almost all of the Philadelphia suburbs. Statewide, John McCain won almost three times as many counties (48) as Barack Obama (19) but Obama won the most populous counties therefore winning the popular vote for the state and its 21 electoral votes.

Philadelphia is the Democratic stronghold of the state, often delivering huge margins for the Democrats in state-wide elections. Other urban areas, such as Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, lean Democratic as well. Like most states, Pennsylvania's rural

Rural

Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 areas tend to be more conservative and support Republicans. The resulting political map of Pennsylvania is therefore a red "T" in the center of the state with the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas a strong blue. The true swing areas of the state are the suburbs of the large cities, notably Philadelphia, which change year to year. The reason for this is the relatively moderate social and fiscal positions held by the citizens of the suburbs.

It has been said that the ideal Pennsylvania candidate is a gun-supporting, pro-life, dynastic Democrat, similar to current senator Bob Casey

Bob Casey, Jr.

Robert Patrick "Bob" Casey, Jr. is the senior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as Pennsylvania Treasurer, and Pennsylvania Auditor General. He is the son of former Governor Bob Casey, Sr..He is the first Democrat elected to a full term in...

. Pennsylvania’s other current Senator, Arlen Specter, announced in April 2009 that he was switching his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic, citing the Republicans shift to the right since he was elected in 1980, though others suspected he switched because he would face a tough Republican primary election in 2010. As it turns out, he ended up losing the Democratic primary to Representative Joe Sestak. Congressman Sestak narrowly lost the general election to Pat Toomey

Pat Toomey

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Toomey, Sr. is the junior United States Senator for Pennsylvania and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Toomey served as a U.S. Representative for three terms, but did not seek a fourth in compliance with a pledge he had made while running for office in 1998...

 in November 2010 returning the Senate seat to Republicans.

On the state level, Pennsylvania has been a traditionally liberal

Liberalism in the United States

Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...

 Republican state, with a dominant Republican party that is much more oriented towards social spending than more conservative Republican parties in other regions of the United States. However, the recent Democratic trend in Pennsylvania has affected state politics, and the Democrats controlled the governor's mansion for two terms under 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...

. However, the Democrats lost control of the governorship with the election of Republican Tom Corbett

Tom Corbett

Thomas W. Corbett is the 46th and current Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. He is a former Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was elected to that office in 2004 and reelected in 2008...

in November 2010.