Pennsylvania will have a new governor, and a new party in the state’s top seat

Republican Tom Corbett won the race for governor in Pennsylvania last night, and as he looked forward to taking the office from outgoing Democrat Ed Rendell, he promised to tackle tough budgetary issues without political partisanship.

Republican Tom Corbett carried all but four counties, defeating Democrat Dan Onorato by nine points last night, with 54 percent of the vote.

Corbett celebrated his victory in Pittsburgh, and looked ahead to the tough challenges he’ll face next year. Those include a likely multi-billion dollar deficit.

“And we will make those decisions regardless of the political consequences,” he said. “We are not going to look at what gets us reelected. We are going to look at what’s in the best interests – not only for the people of Pennsylvania, but particularly for the children.”

Corbett is promising to make decisions on pension reform, deficits and other big issues soon. He said he’ll start talking about next year’s budget in the coming days, once he meets with lawmakers and the Rendell Administration, and that one of his first appointments will be a budget secretary.

“We have the opportunity to bring fiscal discipline to Pennsylvania,” he said. “To bring limited government and to bring free enterprise to Pennsylvania.”

Meantime, Democrat Dan Onorato says he has no regrets, and he refused to blame his loss on Republicans’ attempts to link him to Governor Rendell.

“I never believe that any other elected official can get you elected or hurt you,” Onorato said. “People vote on the candidates.”