Republican candidates for positions in the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives representing Monroe County scored decisive victories over their Democratic counterparts in Tuesday's General Election.

Current state Rep. Mario Scavello, a Republican standard-bearer in Monroe, of Mount Pocono, was the victor in the balloting for the new 40th Senatorial District seat, winning handily by over 8,000 votes over Democrat Mark Aurand of Nazareth. The final tally was 26,786 for Scavello and 18,404 for Aurand.Scavello said he is "ecstatic" with his win. "It is very humbling and truly an honor. I had a good group of people working on my campaign and I'm looking forward to the next four years and working with a great team of folks like Jack Rader, Dave Parker and Rosemary Brown."He said that with Republicans having picked up almost nine House seats and three Senate seats, it is "important for us to work together to reach across party lines and try to do the best for the community."Meanwhile, three Pennsylvania House of Representatives seats representing areas of Monroe all went to GOP candidates, including David C. Parker of East Stroudsburg, who won over Democrat Maureen Madden of Tobyhanna in the 115th District; Jack B. Rader Jr. of Reeders, who defeated Democrat Hope E. Smith of Kunkletown in the 176th District; and Rosemary Brown of East Stroudsburg, a winner over Democrat Elizabeth Forrest of Dingmans Ferry in the 189th District.Sen. John Blake of Jermyn, a Democrat in the 22nd Senatorial District, won in Monroe County over Republican Arthur J. Albert of Scranton, and retained his seat, which also represents parts of Luzerne County and all of Lackawanna County.Senate ballotingThe victory for Scavello will send him to a new part of the Capitol complex for four years, during which time he will represent 43 of the 50 election precincts in Monroe, including the townships of Chestnuthill, Eldred, Hamilton, Jackson, Middle Smithfield, Paradise, Pocono, Polk, Ross, Smithfield, Stroud, Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock and the boroughs of Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg. The district also includes the townships of Allen, Bushkill, East Allen, Forks, Hanover, Lehigh, Lower Mount Bethel, Lower Nazareth, Moore, Plainfield, Upper Mount Bethel, Upper Nazareth and Washington and the boroughs of Bangor, Bath, Chapman, East Bangor, Nazareth, Pen Argyl, Portland, Roseto, Walnutport and Wind Gap, all in Northampton County.In the Monroe balloting, Scavello defeated Aurand by 17,131 to 11,694, whereas in the Northampton County districts, he won by 9,655 to 6,710.Pa. House seatsScavello's successor in the House will be Parker. In the closest of the three House races in the county, he defeated Madden by 5,677 to 5,173 to claim the two-year term.The 115th District includes Coolbaugh, Paradise, Price and Stroud (districts one through six, but not district seven) townships and East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg boroughs.Rader's victory in the 176th Legislative District was by a sizable difference. He received 7,908 votes to win the two-year term over Smith, who trailed with 5,252 votes. That district, which was created by redistricting, includes Chestnuthill, Eldred, Jackson, Pocono, Polk, Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock townships and Mount Pocono Borough.In the 189th District, incumbent Rep. Rosemary Brown of East Stroudsburg won over Forrest by 7,781 to 4,555 to claim the two-year term. The district includes parts of Monroe and Pike counties.In the Monroe districts of Barrett, Hamilton, Middle Smithfield, Ross, Smithfield and Stroud (district seven) townships, as well as Delaware Water Gap, Brown was a 5,635 to 2,146 victor. In the townships of Delaware, Lehman and Porter in Pike County, she defeated her challenger by a difference of 2,146 to 1,143.Pa. SenateMonroe voters in Barrett, Coolbaugh and Price townships participated in the 22nd Senatorial District balloting, where Blake was successful in winning another four-year term of office. In the seven districts of those three townships, Blake defeated Albert by a tally of 2,491 to 1,924.The district also includes all of Lackawanna County and Pittston Township and the boroughs of Avoca, Dupont and Duryea, all in Luzerne County.Governor's ballotingElsewhere, Governor-elect Tom Wolf, a Democrat, was the choice of Monroe County voters over incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett, the Republican.The Monroe County balloting showed Wolf winning by 19,229 to 14,443.U.S. CongressCounty voters opted for Democrat Matt Cartwright of Plains over Republican David Moylan of Auburn, the current Schuylkill County coroner, in the race for the 17th Congressional District. Cartwright, the incumbent running for a second two-year term, won in Monroe by 11,120 to 9,847 in the Monroe townships of Chestnuthill, Coolbaugh, Eldred, Hamilton, Middle Smithfield, Polk, Ross, Smithfield, Stroud (districts one, five, six and seven), Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock, as well as Delaware Water Gap.Cartwright won the race by a landslide. The district also comprises all of Schuylkill County; parts of Carbon County, including the townships of East Penn, Franklin, Lower Towamensing, Mahoning and Towamensing and the boroughs of Bowmanstown, Jim Thorpe, Lansford, Lehighton, Nesquehoning, Palmerton, Parryville, Summit Hill and Weissport; as well as parts of Northampton, Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. (See coverage of that race in a separate story in today's Times News).Meanwhile, some Monroe voters participated in the balloting for the 10th Congressional District seat, where Rep. Tom Marino, a Republican from Williamsport, won re-election to another two-year term.County voters in the townships of Barrett, Jackson, Paradise, Pocono, Price and Stroud (districts two, three and four) and the boroughs of East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg favored Marino over two opponents yesterday. Marino tallied 5,521 votes in those districts while Democrat Scott F. Brion of Liberty had 4,844 votes and Independent Nicholas Troiano of Williamsport followed with 1,249 votes.The 10th District also includes all of Bradford, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan and Susquehanna, Union and Wayne counties and parts of Lackawanna, Northumberland, Perry and Tioga counties.