A special election was held on May 18, 2010 to fill theseat left vacant by the death ofDemocraticU.S. RepresentativeJohn Murtha.[1] On March 8, 2010, thePennsylvania Democratic Party's Executive Committee nominatedMark Critz, Murtha's former district director.[2] On March 11, a convention of Republicans from the 12th district nominated businessmanTim Burns.[3] The Democrats held the seat in the special election, with Critz defeating Burns.[4] Both would face each other again in November's general election, withCritz winning again.[5]
A new governor was elected(incumbent GovernorEd Rendell (D) is term limited),Tom Corbett, the Republican, won the general election with 55% of the vote against the Democrat,Dan Onorato, who carried 45% of the final vote.
