Tuesday's primary election set the stage for what could be one of the most interesting general election campaigns in recent years, not only in Butler County, but statewide as well.

Given that prospect, voters should stay tuned and commit to producing a much-healthier turnout on Nov. 2 than the overall 32 percent that was recorded Tuesday.

Of primary interest to this county's voters is that — regardless of whether they are for him or against him — this county will have a candidate vying for election to Congress in Butler businessman Mike Kelly, who will be trying to unseat first-term Congresswoman Kathy Dalhkemper of Erie.

Leading up to the fall balloting, Kelly can be expected to step up his dialogue on the importance of fiscal discipline in Washington; repeal of the new federal health care reform law, one of his main positions in his primary campaign; and against such federal actions as the Wall Street bailout. He also can be expected to comment on other aspects of the federal economic stimulus initiative that he believes are not in Butler County's — or America's — best interests.

But from this county's perspective, the fall campaign won't be just about the Kelly-Dahlkemper contest. Voters here and across the state will elect a new governor, choosing between Democrat Dan Onorato, Allegheny County's chief executive, and Republican Tom Corbett, the Keystone State's attorney general.

Corbett and Onorato can be expected to wage a long, hard-fought battle in the coming months and, for now, it's anyone's guess how the election will turn out — although this state has a history since the 1970s of electing the candidate of the party not in power after a governor has been in office for eight years.

With both gubernatorial candidates from the Pittsburgh area, it is to be hoped that, between now and Nov. 2, both will spend a few days stumping for votes inside the borders of this county, including in Butler.

From the Butler County vantage point, the coming election would be even more interesting had state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe been successful in his bid for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination.

Metcalfe finished third in the field of nine candidates for the GOP nod. He has nothing to be ashamed of in that result.

After the contest was decided, he made a good assessment of the contest, saying, "I think my candidacy showed that a lot of people across the state share my message of reducing taxes, cutting spending and protecting constitutional freedoms."

The 12th District legislator, who will be on the November ballot in an attempt to win re-election to his House seat, showed, by way of his vote numbers, that, in his six terms in Harrisburg his work has been noticed in Western Pennsylvania. He was the top vote-getter Tuesday not only in this county, but also in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties.

Metcalfe will face political newcomer Zack Byrnes, a Democrat, in November.

In the other congressional district directly affecting Butler County — the 4th, part of which is in the county's southern sector — GOP voters selected Keith Rothfus, a former federal attorney, to battle incumbent Democrat Jason Altmire, who is vying for a third term in Washington.

Butler County Republicans voted 2-1 for Rothfus' nomination over former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

Meanwhile, Tuesday also set the stage for the fall U.S. Senate race that will decide the successor to longtime Sen. Arlen Specter, who was defeated in the Democratic primary by Congressman Joe Sestak of suburban Philadelphia. Sestak will square off in the fall campaign against Pat Toomey, a former Republican congressman from the Allentown area, who was narrowly defeated by Specter in the GOP primary six years ago when Specter was vying for re-election as a Republican.

Sestak, who said he would begin his fall campaign virtually immediately, said, "I think we'll see some real debates about failed philosophy that people tried, trickle-down economics of the eight years of George (W.) Bush and a different way to approach it."

After the Sestak-Specter race was decided, Toomey said, "Joe Sestak and I have major differences on important issues like job creation, taxes, spending, bailouts and health care. He and I will give Pennsylvanians a good, clear choice in November."

Specter's defeat and election contests in Arkansas and Kentucky, also on Tuesday, were indicative of an anti-establishment mood in the country, although voters in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District chose one of the late Democratic U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha's top aides, Mark Critz, to succeed him. A special election to choose Murtha's successor was held in conjunction with Tuesday's primaries.

"It was one of the smoothest elections I've ever had," said Regis Young, longtime director of the Butler County Election Bureau, who will be retiring this summer.

However, Young understandably wasn't happy about Tuesday's voter turnout.

"The weather wasn't good, but I think that's just an excuse for people not to show up," he said.

Perhaps the spirited campaigning that voters can expect leading up to Nov. 2 will change Tuesday's lackluster turnout — but the history of off-year elections suggests otherwise.

Failure to vote is tacit approval of the status quo. Yet few voters say they are happy with Washington or Harrisburg — and turning out to vote in large numbers is the best way to send that message.