Politics & Government

Election 2012 Results: Rothfus Defeats Critz in Newly Drawn 12th District

Rothfus of Sewickley wins the congressional seat with 52 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Republican Keith Rothfus of Sewickley defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Critz of Johnstown by a margin of 52 to 48 percent to win election to the newly re-drawn Pennsylvania 12th congressional district. 

Rothfus said his number one priority is the economy.

"We got get the economy rolling again," he said after delivering a victory speech at the Holiday Inn on McKnight Road in Ross Township Tuesday night. "I'm concerned about tax policy, about the possibility of another tax increase on our small businesses on January first. The president said a couple of years ago; you don't want to raise taxes in a slow economy. And so we have to convince the president of the wisdom of his argument from a couple of years ago."

Find out what's happening in Sewickleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rothfus was asked about the challenges of working with a Democratic president who just won re-election.

"We gotta take a look at what the people of our district want, he said. "Frankly people in this part of the state are very concerned about the war on coal, concerned about stifling energy development. Cheap energy is the key to jobs and we got to this country moving again and we have to work to educate the president on those messages."

Find out what's happening in Sewickleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Critz conceded defeat from a hotel in Johnstown, and said his supporters and campaign staff had "nothing to be ashamed about."

He attributed the loss to the remapping of the district, which added many traditional Republican voters, and to what he called an "enormous" amount of money spent by Rothfus and his supporters.

Keeping up with news in the Sewickley Patch is easy—simply sign up for our daily email newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Sewickley