Staff writer
A third Republican won a spot on the November ballot, according to results from election canvass boards in Washington and Allegheny counties.
Monica Douglas of Elizabeth will challenge incumbent Democratic state Rep. David Levdansky in the 39th Legislative District.
Douglas received 519 votes in Allegheny County and 89 in the Washington County municipalities of Nottingham, Union, Finleyville and part of Carroll that comprise the 39th District.
With a total of 608 votes, Douglas received more than twice the number of write-ins needed. Levdansky also conducted a Republican write-in campaign but fell short, garnering 146 GOP votes in the two counties.
Douglas, 37, of Elizabeth, ran unsuccessfully against Levdansky in 2002.
Levdansky had a Republican opponent, Vinnie Wright of Jefferson Hills, in February, but the GOP candidate withdrew after his nominating petitions were challenged in Commonwealth Court.
Other Republicans securing spots on the November ballot through write-in votes were Frank Yuvan, 46th Legislative District, where he will challenge incumbent Democratic state Rep. Jesse White, and William Russell, 12th Congressional District, where he will challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha.
The canvass board wrapped up its work Wednesday afternoon in Washington County. Interestingly, Arizona Sen. John McCain got as many write-in votes on the Democratic ballot, 114, as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama received on the Republican ballot. But the big news that day was former candidate John Edwards backing Obama in his quest for the Democratic nomination just hours after former first lady Hillary Clinton handily won the West Virginia Democratic primary.
Greene County Commissioner and 12th Congressional District delegate Pam Snyder is still committed to Clinton and said she will be until the junior senator from New York is no longer a candidate.
"We are in the final lap of this race, and for her to quit now would deny her supporters in the remaining states the opportunity to participate in the process," Snyder said.
The delegate foresees the nominee being determined before the Democratic convention in Denver in August, but whether it's Obama or Clinton, she said, "I am OK with it."
And she has no doubt that no matter who the nominee is, the Democrats will go into the fall as a unified party "because we have to."
"This has been a true textbook to watch," Snyder said, referring to the many Democratic primaries and caucuses. "These two candidates have energized more people of all ages to participate in the political process, and that's healthy for the party and the country."
Washington County Commissioner Bracken Burns also expects to head for Denver, but as a delegate from the 18th Congressional District. He wasn't ruling out an Obama-Clinton ticket for president and vice president.
"To me it's a dream team because there are women who have felt disenfranchised for their entire lives who are very, very excited about having a female candidate. I respect that and I appreciate that.
"There are also many minorities and others who have felt disenfranchised their entire lives who are looking at Barack Obama as their standard-bearer. To combine those two, I think, is not the perfect storm, but the perfect sunny day, maybe, so I see it as a positive thing."