Jul 11, 2015 By David Singer 2 min read

After five rounds of balloting from 80 Republican committee members, Guy Reschenthaler won his party’s nomination Saturday to face off against a to-be-named Democrat in November for the seat in the 37th Senatorial District. The district includes portions of Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Bridgeville, South Fayette and Peters Township.

The 32-year-old Reschenthaler, a former Navy J.A.G. officer, said he resigned from his seat as district judge in Jefferson Hills before accepting the Republican nomination. Reschenthaler won in the last round of voting with 48 votes, ahead of Paul Dixon, who received 31 votes. There was one abstention. Others who were up for the nomination but lost were D. Raja, Natalie Mihalek, Tim Young, and John Schnatterly.

“We have to stay united as a party going into the election. We have to focus on core values: limited government, low taxes, and we have to do something about pension reform,” Reschenthaler said.

Reschenthaler added he plans to focus on issues that will likely attract swing voters and “blue-dog” Democrats, like fraud against seniors, domestic violence and other social issues, in addition to campaigning on lowering taxes and protecting gun ownership rights.

Democrats have yet to name a candidate in the special Nov. 3 election, after former senator Matt Smith vacated the seat June 21 for a position with the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Allegheny County Democratic Committee spokeswoman Megan Winters said a nominee would be named as early as August or as late as mid-September, but no specific date is set yet.