The 2010 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in Pennsylvania and other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic governor Ed Rendell was term-limited and thus ineligible to seek re-election in 2010. In the primary, Democrats nominated Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who defeated Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner, State Senator Anthony H. Williams, and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel. Republicans nominated Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, who defeated State Representative Sam Rohrer in the primary. In primary elections for lieutenant governor, which were held separately, H. Scott Conklin defeated Jonathan Saidel and Doris Smith-Ribner in the Democratic primary. Jim Cawley emerged from a nine-candidate field in the Republican primary.
Corbett defeated Onorato in the November general election. As lieutenant gubernatorial nominees run on a joint ticket with the gubernatorial nominee of their respective parties in the general election in Pennsylvania, Cawley was elected lieutenant governor over Conklin. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican was elected Governor of Pennsylvania and the only time in the 21st century. This is also the last time Republicans won the following counties in a gubernatorial election: Allegheny, Erie, Beaver, Centre, Dauphin, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, Bucks, and Chester. This is the last Pennsylvania gubernatorial election in which the winner won a majority of counties.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Dan Onorato, Allegheny County Chief Executive (from Pittsburgh)
- Jack Wagner, Auditor General (from Pittsburgh)
- Anthony Williams, State Senator (from Philadelphia)
- Joe Hoeffel, Montgomery County Commissioner and former U.S. Representative (from Abington Township, Montgomery County)
Dropped Out
- Chris Doherty, Mayor of Scranton
- Tom Knox, healthcare executive (from Philadelphia)
Polling
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
- Tom Corbett, attorney general (from Shaler Township)
- Sam Rohrer, state representative (from Robeson Township)
Dropped Out
- Jim Gerlach, U.S. Representative
- Pat Meehan, Former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Ran for and won race for U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district)
Polling
Results
General election
Candidates
- Tom Corbett (R), Pennsylvania Attorney General
- Dan Onorato (D), Allegheny County Executive
Predictions
Polling
Results
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Allegheny (Largest city: Pittsburgh)
- Beaver (largest city: Beaver)
- Berks (largest borough: Reading)
- Bucks (largest municipality: Bensalem)
- Cambria (largest municipality: Johnstown)
- Carbon (largest municipality: Lehighton)
- Centre (largest municipality: State College)
- Chester (largest municipality: West Chester)
- Clearfield (Largest city: DuBois)
- Clinton (Largest city: Lock Haven)
- Columbia (Largest city: Bloomsburg)
- Elk (Largest city: St. Marys)
- Erie (largest municipality: Erie)
- Fayette (largest borough: Uniontown)
- Greene (largest municipality: Waynesburg)
- Lawrence (largest municipality: New Castle)
- Lehigh (largest municipality: Allentown)
- Luzerne (largest municipality: Wilkes-Barre)
- Mercer (largest municipality: Hermitage)
- Monroe (largest borough: Stroudsburg)
- Northampton (largest municipality: Bethlehem)
- Northumberland (largest borough: Sunbury)
- Pike (largest municipality: Matamoras)
- Schuylkill (Largest city: Pottsville)
- Susquehanna (largest municipality: Forest City)
- Warren (Largest city: Warren)
- Washington (largest municipality: Peters Township)
- Wayne (largest municipality: Honesdale)
- Wyoming (largest municipality: Tunkhannock)
See also
- 2010 Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial election
- 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania
- 2010 United States gubernatorial elections
References
External links
- Pennsylvania Department of State Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Official election results Archived December 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- Official general information for voting, no candidate lists
- Pennsylvania Governor Candidates at Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions for 2010 Pennsylvania Governor from Follow the Money
- 2010 Pennsylvania Governor General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
- Election 2010: Pennsylvania Governor from Rasmussen Reports
- 2010 Pennsylvania Governor Race from Real Clear Politics
- 2010 Pennsylvania Governor's Race from CQ Politics
- Race Profile in The New York Times
Official campaign websites
- Dan Onorato for Governor (Archived)
- Tom Corbett for Governor (Archived)
