Nov. 7--It's been 20 years in the making, but Westmoreland County Republicans finally had their day in Tuesday's general election.

Despite being outnumbered by nearly 50,000 Democratic voters, GOP candidates scored an unprecedented number of wins in county and local elections.

"We're certainly encouraged by what's going on," said GOP Chairman George Dunbar.

--Incoming Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline, a 28-year-old political novice, defeated five-term Democrat David Patterson, becoming the first GOP row officer in more than five decades.

--Republican Michele Bononi defeated a Democrat to become a Common Pleas Court judge. (She will be the sole Republican on the 11-member bench, as Republicans Daniel Ackerman and J. William Ober will retire this year.)

--Kathleen McCormick was elected to serve on Greensburg City Council, making her the first Republican to break the Democratic stranglehold on city government in more than two decades.

--Voters in North Huntingdon elected three Republican commissioners, wresting the majority from the Democrats. That victory included the surprise win of 23-year-old Zach Haigis, who beat long-term incumbent Democrat Angelo Furlin, 79.

--Republicans won mayoral seats in Irwin, North Irwin and West Newton, retained the mayor's office in Latrobe, and elected the first Republican supervisor in Donegal Township in recent memory.

"Republicans were much more motivated in this election," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster in an interview earlier this week. "Republicans were generally excited about this election and were beneficiaries of the Tea Parties and the health care protests."

Nearly two decades ago, the outlook wasn't so rosy for the GOP.

In 1992, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton garnered 22,000 more votes than Republican President George Bush, and no GOP candidate had any success on the county level. In the most heavily populated communities, Republicans came up empty.

In 2001, GOP leadership did not field one candidate for a county office.

Then, a gradual shift began.

Republicans made some inroads in the county in statewide races.

Last year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain won Westmoreland County by more than 29,000 votes.

"After last year's election, we truly believed this county is a red county. This year we targeted several races. We thought we could really make headway in North Huntingdon and Greensburg. We targeted certain races and we won them all," Dunbar said.

The party hired a full-time executive director to coordinate get-out-the-vote efforts countywide. More money was raised for county and local candidates. The state Republican Committee even sent a field operative to assist with campaign activities throughout the fall season.

And while shifting demographics certainly helped in places such as North Huntingdon, where Republicans have gradually gained more than 1,500 voters over the last five years, Democrats still maintain an overwhelming advantage in Greensburg, where voters crossed party lines to elect McCormick.

"They were wise voters who took time to talk to me about the issues. To win, I had to have both Democratic and independent votes, too," McCormick said.

Democrats were not caught off-guard by the GOP's successes.

Ken Burkley, a longtime political operative and former chairman of the Westmoreland Democrat Committee, said his party needs to do a better job of wielding its commanding edge in voter registration, with 136,009 Democrats compared to 88,257 Republicans.

In some precincts in the Democratic bastions of Monessen and New Kensington, Democrats could not even muster a 10 percent turnout, while in some precincts, Republicans recorded 40 percent turnouts.

"Is our base not energized or enthused? I don't know. We absolutely, as a party, have to do more to get the people out," Burkley said.

Democratic leaders are still attempting to digest the losses and chart their next move.

"The Republicans have gone up in registration in some areas," said Democratic Party Chairman Dante Bertani. "We'll have a meeting at the end of the month and we'll see where we didn't do so well."

State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, chaired the county Republican committee in the mid-1990s, when the party's resurgence began. She helped engineer the wins on the national and state level before being elected last year to the Senate, replacing another Republican, Robert Regola, who did not seek re-election.

Ward said this week's success was not unexpected.

"The last bastion to break through was on the county level. It was coming, but we didn't know when. It's trending that way now," Ward said.

Officials hope to continue the momentum.

"We've already had meetings about state representative races next year and we're certainly working on the local level to win races for county commissioner and row offices in 2011," Dunbar said.

Further voting breakdowns on the latest general election will be available shortly from the county election bureau, allowing both parties to plot future strategy.

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