Incumbent Remains Despite Double Anti-Incumbent Reformer Opposition

What to make of the dramatic loss/es? More voters wanted to retain Gingrich than defeat her. The independent turned Republican challenger, Russ Diamond had an opportunity to ride into office given statewide fame after the 1995 payraise aka paygrab debacle. Name recognition had to be at least equal to that of the incumbent given two-years' worth of state headlines about Diamond's efforts to rid the state of incumbents, all incumbents, after the payraise. He also made a historic bid for Governor as an Independent in 2006, running on a platform of reform, including a specific call for a PA Constitutional Convention.

Diamond remains commendable for his efforts to highlight the arrogance of members of the General Assembly and the often abrogation of duty to uphold the PA Constitution by our elected Judges who oversee the PA Constitution.

His efforts towards a PA Constitutional Convention after his failure to lay claim to an elected office seat should be reconsidered, and placed squarely where the blame has always been - entrenched incumbents - not perceived failures of the PA Constitution.

As we've argued before and will again, the PA Constitution is not at fault. Legislators who fail to abide by the PA Constitution are.

Any further reform of government should take place via grassroots efforts to hold our legislators accountable and enable reasoned measures which are carefully weighed before enacting into law, or not.

(Net the Truth Online)

Diamond concedes to Gingrich in 101st
by The Patriot-News
Tuesday April 22, 2008, 9:46 PM
PALMYRA--Mauree Gingrich said the "unflappable, enlightened, thinking voters" of the 101st District are responsible for her victory last night over challengers Russ Diamond and Bruce Kreider.

Despite Diamond's unsuccessful challenge of signatures on her filing petition, Gingrich said she "never had a doubt" that she would prevail in the election.

"Nobody bought into that," Gingrich said of Diamond's argument that some signatures were forged on the petition, which the state supreme court rejected.

With all precincts reporting, Gingrich had 4,338 votes, compared with 1,558 for Diamond and 846 for Kreider.

Diamond said he thinks he lost because voters like Gingrich, which he doesn't think should be the number one reason to vote for someone. "It should be because they are effective at doing things."

He also said he didn't think he lost many votes due to a last-minute mailer by a group called Campaign for PA's Future of Media that cited his 2002 conviction for harassment after violating a PFA order.

Kreider said he stayed out of the fray, concentrating his campaign on promoting positive change. For him, he said politics is "more about ideas" and on the individual candidate than the party.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/04/diamond_concedes_to_gingrich_i.html