When the votes from the final precinct were confirmed, the results on the screen locked into place.
John Murphy, fifty-four percent.
Russell Warren, forty-six percent.
There was no neck-and-neck race as expected, no tense, drawn-out battle.
John Murphy had won.
This invisible man from Capitol Hill, this Representative whom everyone saw as an amiable moderate, had, on this night, personally ended Russell Warren's thirty-year reign over Pennsylvania.
The plaza fell into a brief, dead silence.
Then, a deafening roar of cheers erupted.
Champagne corks shot toward the sky like bullets.
People embraced, screamed, and cried.
Below the stage, Leo Wallace stood with his hands in his overcoat pockets, quietly watching the scene unfold.
He watched John Murphy walk out from backstage, toward the lectern surrounded by flowers and microphones.
Murphy wore the deep blue suit specially tailored for the campaign, its cut perfectly fitting his body.
