Despite reported widespread technical glitches with some Pennsylvania voting machines, the governor’s race emerged as a clear slam-dunk for a second term for incumbent Democrat Edward G. Rendell over Republican challenger Lynn Swann. Rendell, a familiar face on cable news talk shows for the Democrat political machine, is a former mayor of Philadelphia and former chairman of the Democrat National Committee. He is married to Marjorie Rendell, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Swann, a former pro football player, was the pro-life candidate. He supported the abolition of abortion (with exceptions) and protection of marriage legislation and opposed embryonic stem-cell research. Rendell supports embryonic stem-cell research and keeping abortion legal and opposes some abortion clinic restrictions and a constitutional amendment to protect marriage.
