An independent poll by a Connecticut-based university provides a discouraging finding that right-thinking Pennsylvania residents, including potential challengers to incumbent state legislators next year, should remain committed to prove wrong.

According to that poll, which was conducted by Quinnipiac University, 57 percent of the commonwealth's voters would not cast ballots against incumbent legislators solely for voting "yes" on the big salary increase lawmakers gave themselves at 2 a.m. July 7 without previous public notice or public debate - and which used a "stealth" bill to get the raises to the floor of the House and Senate to technically comply with legislative-timetable rules.

Then, as if that arrogance and disregard for the taxpayers' best interests wasn't enough, most lawmakers began collecting their raises - which amount to 16 percent to 34 percent (some reports indicate raises of as much as 54 percent) - immediately through special payments called "unvouchered expenses." By such payments, those lawmakers are skirting the state constitution, which bans midterm legislative pay increases.

In the aftermath of the July pay-raise action, which was signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell, many state residents expressed anger and said it was time for a "housecleaning" in Harrisburg. A rally against the raises has been held in the state capital, and thousands of petitions calling for repeal of the raises have been delivered there.

Much criticism still is being directed lawmakers' way, but the Quinnipiac poll injects a troubling note to the possibility for many new faces in state government, especially in Senate and House leadership positions. The poll results could discourage qualified individuals from challenging incumbents in next year's legislative elections, but hopefully that won't happen.

Meanwhile, this is the time for people interested in legislative service to be forming their campaign committees and lining up financial support. Candidacies are usually announced around year's end or in the early days of a new year; there is virtually no hope for a person entering a race at the last minute.

Another troubling finding of the Quinnipiac poll was that 67 percent of the 1,530 poll respondents said they did not know how their local legislators voted on the raises. However, nearly 75 percent of those surveyed said the raises were excessive, and 61 percent of the voters surveyed called for repealing the raises, while 22 percent said the raises should be scaled back.

"While voters think the legislative pay raise is excessive and want it repealed, it does not appear that lawmakers will suffer greatly at the polls for making themselves the second-best paid legislature in the country," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute.

But it is significant that 37 percent of poll respondents said they would in fact vote against lawmakers just because they approved the raises. That figure would seem to provide a window for challengers' hopes of unseating incumbents - and, hopefully, for new faces to eventually occupy leadership positions.

Incumbent lawmakers obviously welcomed the poll results, but the unrest over the raises should keep them feeling uneasy.

If the pay-raise unhappiness among the electorate continues at its current level, it's hard to tell what the results will be when next year's votes are tabulated - despite what Quinnipiac's poll says.