A Democratic duo: State Sen. Mike Stack (D-5th dist.) will serve as lieutenant governor under Gov.-elect Tom Wolf, who defeated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett with 55 percent of the vote. TIMES FILE PHOTO
State Sen. Mike Stack is in the early stages of planning the transition to the office of lieutenant governor.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
Stack (D-5th dist.) will serve under Gov.-elect Tom Wolf, a York County businessman who defeated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett with 55 percent of the vote.
Stack believes the ticket succeeded because of Wolf’s business background and his own legislative experience.
“I think we meshed nicely,” he said.
Wolf already has visited with Republican and Democrats in the GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives.
“We want to do everything in a bipartisan way,” Stack said.
Stack believes Wolf’s focus on education funding helped him avoid the Republican wave that swept through races for U.S. Senate and House, governor and state legislatures across the country.
Republicans won races for governor in Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois, three of the most Democratic states in the country.
“It was a very interesting election,” Stack said. “There clearly was a trend that Tom Wolf and I absolutely swam against. We were probably the only ticket of Democrats in the country were able to buck that trend.”
Looking ahead, Stack noted that Wolf is not a big fan of the School Reform Commission.
The incoming lieutenant governor wants to use a tax on natural gas drillers to fund public education.
“There is sentiment on both sides of the aisle for a reasonable extraction tax for natural gas,” he said. “It’s going to require a lot of heavy lifting and compromise.”
Stack would not say when he’d schedule a special election to fill his seat, or whom he favored as his replacement.
He also declined to say whom he supports in a special election to replace Democratic state Rep. Brendan Boyle, who won a congressional seat. As Democratic leader of the 58th Ward, Stack will get to select the Democratic nominee for the House seat.
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The Republicans and Democrats in the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives last week held leadership elections.
No lawmaker representing the Northeast was elected to a leadership position.
Republicans picked up three seats in the Nov. 4 election and hold a 30–20 advantage in the Senate. They will enjoy an 11-seat edge once Sen. Mike Stack resigns to focus on his new job of lieutenant governor.
The GOP picked up eight seats in the recent election and hold a commanding 119–84 advantage in the House. Democrats will lose another seat once Rep. Brendan Boyle resigns to become a member of the U.S. House.
Special elections will be held to replace Stack and Boyle.
Democrats are in such a big hole that they might have to wait until the 2022 redistricting to have a chance to win the majority in either chamber. ••
