Brewster looks forward after tight, tense state Senate race

By PAULA REED WARD

Trib Total Media

State Sen. Jim Brewster knew the initial Jan. 5 swearing-­in for members of his chamber could get dicey.

He had been declared the winner of the 45th District race by the Pennsylvania secretary of State, and a legal ruling from the state Supreme Court concurred. But his Republican opponent, Nicole Ziccarelli, wasn’t done fighting. After losing in Pennsylvania’s highest appellate court, she filed a challenge in federal court in Pittsburgh.

Ziccarelli argued 311 undated mail-in ballots — which gave Brewster a 69-vote lead in the district that includes portions of Westmoreland and Allegheny counties — should not have been counted by Allegheny County. Without them, she would be the winner.

As the candidates awaited a ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, Ziccarelli filed a petition in the Republican-controlled state Senate, asking that Brewster not be seated until the decision was handed down.

There had been closed-door discussions among leadership leading up to what Brewster jokingly calls “Swearing-In One.” As the 25 senators were set to be sworn in by Superior Court Judge Jack Panella, tempers flared.

One Republican senator made a motion that Brewster not be sworn in. When Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who was presiding over the body, objected, he was removed from his position by Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre.

The episode was marked by shouting and anger.

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, paced back and forth, trying to figure out what his caucus should do. Brewster approached him.

“‘Let’s temper this. Slow it down,’” Costa said Brewster told him. “‘I don’t want to hold my colleagues up. I’m just going to leave. I’m not going to exacerbate this any more.’”

Brewster and his wife of 50 years, Linda, who was there to hold his Bible, walked off the Senate floor, and 24 newly elected senators took the oath of office.

“I have tremendous respect for how he handled things,” Costa said. “I think he’s dealt with it extremely well, with class and integrity.”

Brewster, who was sworn in officially Wednesday, begins his third term representing 38 communities in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the Mon Valley, in eastern Allegheny and northern Westmoreland counties.

Despite the frustration and disappointment of the past two months — and, really, the whole of 2020 — the 72-year-old is eager to continue working in the seat he’s held for 10 years.

“You want to last in a stressful job like this?” Brewster said in an interview Friday. “You have to be mentally tough, physically tough and intellectually tough.

“It’s not about anger. It’s about doing the right thing.

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