Republican candidates' robust showings across Pennsylvania Tuesday raised GOP hopes for the next year's state and congressional elections.

Reversing a recent pattern of Democratic successes, Republicans won at least six of the seven appellate court races on the ballot and may end up sweeping the contests, depending on the outcome of a still-undecided Superior Court seat. The results were dotted with some Democratic successes in competitive areas, such as the ouster of an incumbent district attorney in Centre County, but lagging Democratic turnout held down the margins of several heavily favored Democratic incumbents.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's vote total showed significant erosion from two years ago. In Scranton, Mayor Chris Doherty, the Democratic incumbent who is considering a run for governor, was the only candidate on the ballot. But a Republican write-in challenger managed to pull more than 5,600 votes to Mr. Doherty's 8,519. In Lehigh County, Executive Don Cunningham, the incumbent Democrat, just squeaked by, with 51 percent of the vote, against a little-known and poorly funded GOP challenger.

Tuesday left Pennsylvania Republicans, like their colleagues nationally, with at least temporary bragging rights, but analysts and partisans debated just how reliable a guide those results offered to the bigger prizes on the 2010 ballots -- a governor's race, a U.S. Senate seat and scores of legislative and congressional contests.

"States like Pennsylvania in recent years have been tilting toward the Democrats," said John Brabender, a GOP strategist advising the gubernatorial campaign of Attorney General Tom Corbett. "Now there's a lot of strong information that the environment is shifting ... now I would argue there is a more level playing field."

Ken Snyder, a consultant for the Democratic gubernatorial bid of Philadelphian Tom Knox, dismissed the notion that Tuesday's numbers foretold the trend of the 2010 races.

"There was nothing driving turnout at the local level. You had the kind of no-interest, low-dollar campaigns that typically are more well-attended by Republicans than Democrats," he said. "Those looking for connections to the future are either making self-serving connections or they're misreading history."

Christopher Borick, a political scientist at Muhlenberg College, did see storm clouds for a party that seemed to have had the wind at its back in the majority of recent statewide contests.

"What happened last night exposed a number of weaknesses that Democrats are going to have to contend within 2010 -- most notably, getting people who call themselves Democrats to show up at the polls," he said. " The biggest story of the night was the totally demobilized Democratic base."

Voter turnout was low across the state -- just 23 percent in Allegheny County -- but it was particularly abysmal in Philadelphia, where only about 12 percent of voters bothered to go to the polls. The low interest in the election was compounded by a transit strike that made it more difficult for Philadelphians to get to their voting precincts -- or anywhere else for that matter.

"The irony of all this is that the labor unions, the traditional allies of the Democratic Party, really did them in," said Jim Roddey, the Allegheny County Republican chairman. "They went on strike in Philly and I think that really hurt the turnout."

With an overall statewide turnout estimated at 20 percent, the voting dearth extended across the political spectrum but seemed to be particularly acute among Democrats.

The apparent turnout disparity in favor of the GOP raises questions about the staying power and effectiveness of a Democratic registration advantage that surged over the last two election cycles. Mr. Brabender argued that the intensity of voter interest, a Democratic edge in the state in 2006 and 2008, was shifting back to his party.

"What happened yesterday was that a lot of Republicans showed up and a lot of Democrats didn't -- we hadn't seen that in a while," he said.

T.J. Rooney, the state Democratic chairman, acknowledged the Republicans' big night, but dismissed the suggestion that it would be a portent for 2010.

"I'm not making excuses; they won fair and square and they deserve to walk around with their heads high for a few days," he said. "But anyone who thinks this has a lot to do with next year is mistaken."

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