No winner declared in Democratic race

Santorum renewed his challenge for Casey to engage in 10 debates.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
MERCER, Pa. -- It was too close to call who will face off with longtime state Sen. Robert Robbins, R-50th, this fall.
Democrats Charles "Chaz" Rice and Art Allen would not declare a winner by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday with results still out in Mercer County. Allen was ahead in Crawford, Butler and Lawrence counties, but a good number of Mercer County votes had not been tallied.
The winner will have a tough road in the fall against Robbins, of Salem Township, who has held the seat since 1990. Robbins ran unopposed in the primary on the Republican ballot.
The 50th state Senate district includes all of Mercer and Crawford counties and portions of Butler and Lawrence Counties.
There were no surprises in statewide elections.
State Treasurer Bob Casey easily beat two challengers Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Rick Santorum in a race that national Democratic leaders hope will underscore public disapproval of the nation's Republican leadership.
With 17 percent of precincts reporting, Casey had 86,295 votes, or 82 percent of the total.
Pay raise issue
Pennsylvanians were also weighing in on whether to punish state lawmakers who voted themselves a big pay increase in the middle of the night last year before repealing the raises under public pressure.
Sixty-one incumbents in the 253-member Pennsylvania Legislature faced primary challenges Tuesday, the most since 1980, including some leaders from both parties. Most of the challengers were recruited by PACleanSweep, a group organized at the height of the pay raise furor.
Casey, 46, is Pennsylvania's state treasurer and formerly the state auditor general. He was courted by national Democratic leaders to take on Santorum, the Senate's No. 3 Republican and a close ally of President Bush.
Most independent polls have shown Casey, son of the late Gov. Robert P. Casey, holding a double-digit lead over Santorum. The focus on the nationally prominent general-election campaign always overshadowed Casey's primary race against Alan Sandals, a Philadelphia pension lawyer, and Chuck Pennacchio, a Philadelphia college professor -- both running their first major campaigns.
Santorum, who was nominated for a third term without opposition, renewed his challenge for Casey to engage in 10 debates.
Gubernatorial race
In the governor's race, former football star Lynn Swann, whose campaign for governor marks his debut in Pennsylvania politics, won the Republican nomination without opposition. Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell was nominated for a second four-year term, also without opposition.
Despite the star power Swann has accrued during nine years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two decades as a sideline reporter for ABC Sports, he has struggled to win over voters and raise even a fraction of Rendell's $17 million. A Quinnipiac University poll taken this month showed the governor leading by 22 percentage points.
Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll faced three primary challengers in the Democratic primary.
Among the state legislators facing primary opposition were the two top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate and the two top leaders of the Democratic minority in the House.
Only two of the state's 19 members of the U.S. House of Representatives faced primary foes.
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