A plan to balance the federal budget proposed by Sen. Pat Toomey was voted down by the Senate 42 to 57 on Wednesday, but still garnered more votes than any other proposal.

The U.S. Senate hasn’t passed a budget in over 3 years, and Tom Smith today laid the blame on Senate Democrats, including his opponent Bob Casey. In an online petition, the Republican hopeful backed a No Budget, No Pay measure – but stopped short of endorsing any specific spending proposal.

The national political discourse turned sharply toward gay marriage and other LGBT rights issues this week on President Obama’s announcement that he supports gay marriage. The contrast is slightly less stark in the U.S. Senate contest.

For months as the GOP Senate candidates held forums, debates and made TV appearances across Pennsylvania. The PA Dems tracked almost every one, and today unveiled a compilation of clips of nominee Tom Smith’s Tea Party past.

Republicans nominated former coal company owner Tom Smith on Tuesday, but the self-funder’s name on the ballot didn’t inch PA up on the National Journal’s competitiveness scale compared to other races in the country.

Now that Mitt Romney has the GOP nomination in the bag, the biggest national question is who will join his ticket. One name that’s stayed on the margins of the discussion – but still mentioned – is Senator Pat Toomey. Do you think he has a shot?

Sam Rohrer, the former state lawmaker who rode his grassroots conservative support to a second place finish in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primary, has thrown his support behind GOP nominee Tom Smith.

Did you get a chance to relax and sleep in this morning, Tom Smith campaign? Good. Hope you enjoyed it. It’s your last time before November. The PA Dems wasted no time in launching an assault on the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate Wednesday.

Tom Smith scored a relatively easy win Tuesday, with Sam Rohrer in a distant second and Steve Welch in third. His victory embarrasses the PAGOP – and Gov. Tom Corbett – who backed Welch. Smith vastly outspent his opponents, almost 3 times all of them combined.

PoliticsPA will be covering election news and returns all Tuesday and late into the night to bring you the latest. The latest: check out one of the ballot cards that gives the PAGOP endorsement its SEPA strength. PoliticsPA is calling the Senate race for Tom Smith.

The Pa. Republican Party played their biggest card in the final days before the election: Tom Corbett. The Guv starred in a mail piece and robocall on behalf of the party’s endorsed candidates. Meanwhile, Dick Morris sent out another appeal for Tom Smith.