Lloyd Smucker, a businessman and former West Lampeter Township supervisor, beat back the wave of voter dissatisfaction with Republicans to win election to the state Senate on Tuesday.

Smucker, a Republican, received 57 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Jose Urdaneta, who launched a formidable challenge to take the 13th Senate district.

The district, which includes Lancaster County south of Manheim Township and parts of eastern York County, has been represented by a Republican in the state Senate since at least the 1890s.

"I knew we were fighting against a number of factors, and the most important was the economic situation. That hurt Republicans all across the board," Smucker said this morning.

Democrats had increased their registration numbers this year and had energized voters to turn out for presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Urdaneta won by wide margins in all but three districts in Lancaster City, where he is a City Council member, and Lancaster Township.

But, Smucker won virtually everywhere else, especially in the rural southern Lancaster County townships of East Drumore, Conestoga, Colerain and Martic where support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain was strong.

Smucker was hoarse this morning with an oncoming cold and from speaking to voters all day Tuesday at Manheim Township's Grandview Heights polling place.

He said voters are unhappy with the legislature and gravitated to his business background and the fact that he wasn't a long-serving incumbent.

"Voters are looking for a government that works. They want legislators that are interested in doing what's right rather than winning the next election," he said.

Smucker, a 44-year-old business consultant, will replace Gibson E. Armstrong, who is retiring after 32 years in the state Senate.

Urdaneta said he decided to run because he knew that conditions were more favorable for a Democrat than at perhaps any time in recent history. Yet, he said, he knew winning wouldn't be easy.

"This was a race for a Republican to lose. There is still certainly an edge on registration and registration did what it was supposed to do," Urdaneta said.

Short of winning, Urdaneta said this morning that he still sees a victory in making such a strong showing by gaining 43 percent of the vote.

"This is a matter of positioning ourselves for the future and the future of the party," he said of Democratic challenges.

Now that Smucker has been elected, he will have the power of incumbency to help him stay in office, said G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Politics & Public Affairs.

But, Smucker's Senate career may be less certain than that of Armstrong, said Madonna. Democrats are becoming increasingly competitive in Lancaster County and the results of this election will encourage them to find strong candidates and raise more money for challenges, he said.

For now, Smucker said he will turn his attention to preparing to take office. In the next few days, he will hire staff and begin looking for district office space.

And, in January, he will begin fulfilling his campaign goal of cutting state spending.

"Obviously, this has become very important for the state since we are showing a $2 billion or $3 billion shortfall," he said. "This is the year that it really comes home to roost, because we are spending way more than we have available."


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.