Published: November 05, 2008 01:45 am      

Barbin squeaks by Rigby in 71st

It was a horse race right up to the end.

When it was over, Democrat Bryan Barbin won the area’s closest contest, beating Republican Jim Rigby by 250 votes for the state House.

With all 67 precincts reporting, Barbin edged Rigby 12,193 to 11,943 to represent the Greater Johnstown region in Harrisburg.

That total will change as absentee ballots are counted. But Barbin said he is confident the numbers would stand.

Barbin said he ran an issues-based campaign.

“No matter what anyone else tells you – whether it’s the Democratic Party or the Republican Party – you can run a clean campaign on the issues and win,” he said. “I would like to thank Jim for running a clean campaign.”

His supporters gathered at Ace’s Lounge in Johnstown’s Cambria City neighborhood.

“I could not do it without the volunteers who have been here for over 11 months,” Barbin said. “They believed in me.”

Barbin and Rigby campaigned to bring jobs to the 71st Legislative District.

Barbin has said his focus is on creating “family-sustaining jobs” by reviving the region’s steel and coal industries.

The two battled to replace retiring state Rep. Ed Wojnaroski, D-Johnstown, in a 14-municipality district that includes the financially distressed city of Johnstown.

Barbin, of Westmont, has a quarter-century of legal experience and is the fourth generation of his family to practice law here.

He switched from Republican to Democrat in 2006.

Rigby has no state experience but is heavily involved in local government. In Ferndale Borough, he has been a councilman for 16 years, a police officer for 24 years and a member of the volunteer fire company for three decades.

Rigby was unavailable for comment.

Rigby said in March he no longer was seeking the nomination but did not remove his name from the primary ballot and defeated Steve Ettien of Richland Township.