Reschenthaler prevails in new 14th Congressional District
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Guy Reschenthaler shakes hands Tuesday night with a supporter at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Meadow Lands.
Guy Reschenthaler at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Meadow Lands on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
What a difference a year makes.
Observer-Reporter
Observer-Reporter
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler
State Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, whose attempt at political advancement ran aground in 2017, is now sailing on his way to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Reschenthaler, a U.S. Navy veteran, was thwarted last November when he lost a nomination among Republicans for a special election in the 18th Congressional District to State Rep. Rick Saccone.
According to unofficial results from Washington, Greene, Fayette counties and part of Westmoreland, the Iraq War veteran won the battle in the newly-drawn 14th District with 134,952 votes to those of his Democratic opponent, Bibiana Boerio who had 98,057.
“The votes are all in, the people have spoken and we’re heading in a new direction in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Reschenthaler told his supporters Tuesday night at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Meadow Lands.
“We believe in low taxes and strong national defense. But we are also pushing in a new direction, criminal justice reform, we are for improvement in mental health care.”
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Guy Reschenthaler at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Meadow Lands on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Guy Reschenthaler at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Meadow Lands on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
Reschenthaler, 35, who lived outside the district when he secured a Republican nod last May over Saccone, bought a condominium in Peters Township in Washington County and he’ll also have to be checking out an abode in Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last year after an adultery scandal, was among those celebrating with Reschenthaler, with whom he said he talks to frequently and whom he has known for “a long time.”
Before Reschenthaler left for Iraq, they sat down for coffee and talked.
“I was impressed with his drive, his intelligence, his dedication,” Murphy said.
“I saw tremendous potential. He had the signs of a good leader. He works very hard. He’s a real patriot…. I’m happy for his success.”
Reschenthaler volunteered for duty in Iraq, where, as a law school graduate, he was in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
His first elected public office was as a magisterial district judge in Pleasant Hills. He won a special election for state Senate in 2015.
Boerio, former Ford Motor Co. executive and Seton Hill University interim president, ran in what some called the Year of the Woman due to the atypically high number of female candidates who entered politics.
After campaigning in the rain Tuesday morning in her native Latrobe, Boerio’s election night gathering was in Westmoreland County.
Boerio’s campaign did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday night.
Saccone narrowly lost to Democrat Conor Lamb, who, due to the redistricting map redrawn by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, ran Tuesday in the 17th Congressional District which includes his home community of Mt. Lebanon.
The 17th featured the only race in the country that pitted two incumbents: U.S. Rep. Lamb and U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Sewickley).
Unofficial returns showed Lamb with approximately 58.4 percent of the vote total to Rothfus’ 41.6 percent.
Saccone, 60, of Elizabeth Township, chose not to seek re-election in the 39th State House district.
Staff writer Karen Mansfield contributed to this report.