Another easy win for Congressman Thompson

Story posted November 7, 2012 in Election 2012 by Jimi Werner and Adaire Robinson.

A Republican has represented the 5th Congressional District of Pennsylvania since 1973 and that trend is not going to change. Glenn Thompson won the seat on Tuesday for the third straight election.

Thompson won in a landslide, winning 63 percent of the vote, to Democratic challenger Charles Dumas’s 37 percent. Thompson was celebrating at Champ’s Sports Bar on North Atherton Street.

“My wife and I are very pleased that we were able to earn reelection tonight,” said Thompson.

Thompson ran his campaign by espousing common Republican themes.

Thompson has used The Affordable Healthcare Act or Obamacare as it is commonly known as one of his big issues and talking points. On Thompson's campaign website he says that as a former therapist and rehabilitation specialist for 28 years that he knows how important healthcare is and that he has been working to make it better by introducing new legislation.

“I was pleased that this was a campaign based off the issues and not off personalities,” said Thompson.

Dumas, a Penn State professor, wanted to develop programs and support ideas to keep the economy going. He also wanted to provide an affordable education for all people ages K-12 through college.  He supports universal affordable health care and wants to remove some of the negative attention it has received.

Even though Dumas lost convincingly he did have support in the community.

“I voted for Dumas mainly because I am disappointed with Thompson,” said Herbert Moller, a State College resident. “He doesn’t seem to have the district’s interests in mind.”

Moller said that another reason why he voted for Dumas was because he talks a certain way to the district but votes another way when in Washington.

Some voters did not know who either candidate was so they just voted on party lines.

“I did a straight party vote so I did all Republican,” said Leslie Dalton, senior at Penn State. “I saw more signs for Thompson too.”

Dumas is not new to electoral politics. Before moving to Pennsylvania, he ran for New York State Senate.

In 2010, the last time Thompson ran as the incumbent, he defeated his opponent handily winning 68.6 percent of the vote against Democrat challenger Michael Pipe who won 28.3 percent of the votes. Pipe is now a Centre County commissioner.

When Thompson ran for the first time in 2006 when there was no incumbent after John E Peterson, the district's representative for the previous six terms, retired. Thompson's closest victory was in that first election when he won by 16 percent over Democrat Mark McCracken.