Election Day went largely as many political insiders and observers predicted, with the GOP… Election Day went largely as many political insiders and observers predicted, with the GOP taking back control of the House but failing to secure the Senate.

Although Republican candidates took back a majority in Congress and a couple of Tea Party candidates took Senate seats, yesterday’s midterm elections were not a total loss for Democrats — though they did lose the Pennsylvania governorship and one of the state’s Senate seats.

Reporters and columnists pointed to burgeoning discontent with government spending and ongoing economic troubles as the main force behind many Republican victories, setting the stage for two years worth of confrontation between President Obama and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives .

Despite falling far behind in the preliminary reports, Republican Tom Corbett beat Democrat Dan Onorato in the governor’s race, securing 54 percent of the vote. Onorato secured 46 percent, only winning in Philadelphia and Lackawanna counties.

By 10 p.m., a number of national and local news sources started calling the race in Corbett’s favor.

Onorato conceded shortly before 11 p.m., putting an end to a tight race and extending the six-decade streak of party flip-flopping in the Governor’s Mansion: Since the 1950s, neither party has held the governor’s seat for more than eight consecutive years.

During his concession speech at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Building in the South Side, Onorato said he will continue to focus on his job as Allegheny County Executive.

He said he is unhappy with the outcome of the governor’s race, but that he “knows the political process and respects it.”

“I got in this race to talk about ideas and moving Pennsylvania forward,” Onorato said. “We fought a battle and came out a little short, but our voice was heard.”

Angela Monaco, a sophomore at Pitt who interned for Onorato’s campaign, called the loss “a bummer.”

“Hopefully Corbett will come through for students,” she said.

Corbett’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.

More grim news for Pennsylvania Democrats came around 11:30 p.m., when Democrat Joe Sestak fell behind Pat Toomey in the other statewide race, this one for Senate.

Sestak jumped to a sizable lead in the race as soon as the first results from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia began pouring in around 8 p.m., but Toomey steadily closed the gap throughout the night.

By 11 p.m. the race was within one point, with more than 90 percent of the votes tallied. In the end, Toomey’s steady comeback succeeded. The Associated Press called the race in favor of Toomey around midnight, and other news sources soon followed.

Toomey eventually secured 50.5 percent of the vote, while Sestak received 49.5 percent.

All of the state’s 19 congressional races were called by press time last night. Seven seats went to Democrats, with Jason Altmire and Mike Doyle winning in the 4th and 14th Districts, respectively. The remaining 12 seats went to Republicans, with five taken from incumbent Democrats.

North of Pittsburgh, Republican Mike Kelly defeated freshman Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper in the 3rd Congressional District. Kelly landed 56 percent of the vote to Dahlkemper’s 44 percent.

At the state level, state Rep. Dan Frankel easily won reelection over Republican challenger Dan Wiseman.

State Sen. Wayne Fontana had no opponent in his bid for reelection.

Nationally, Republicans needed to win 39 seats to take back control of the House. Not all of the nation’s races had been called by press time, but Republicans appeared poised to take at least 50 seats, according to a number of national and local news sources — more than enough to establish a majority.

Overall voter turnout in Allegheny County was around 45 percent, down from 52 percent recorded during the 2006 midterms.

Districts 7 and 8 in Ward 4 — which is predominately made up of Pitt students — had 1,388 voters,