MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Republicans have controlled the Pennsylvania Senate for most of the last three decades, and now they have new bragging rights: The Senate is the last state legislative chamber in the Northeast in GOP hands.

The GOP’s success could provide a template for fellow Republicans looking to win back majorities not just in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region, where they lost the New York Senate and Delaware House on Nov. 4, but across the country.

“The Republicans in the state Senate are smart cookies and know how to win,” said Bob Asher, a major GOP fundraiser and the party’s national committeeman in Pennsylvania. “Maybe there ought to be a campaign school in Harrisburg and you could send people to it.”

The GOP was able to withstand a Barack Obama-inspired surge in Democratic voter registration and maintain power in the state Senate thanks in part to Pennsylvania voters’ history of ticket-splitting.

Party leaders say a key strategy has been to pick candidates who reflect the values of their districts and to avoid dwelling on divisive social issues such as abortion or gay rights.

In the same vein, they have benefited from a pragmatic streak in the Legislature. They demonstrated that by cooperating with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell on the legalization of slot machines, school funding and alternative energy, though sometimes compromise came only after long battles that split the caucus.

“That helps them ... maintain that legitimacy in a sea of blue,” said Michael L. Young, who runs a Harrisburg-based opinion research polling firm.

Victories on Nov. 4 left the Pennsylvania Senate as the only chamber in Republican control in the 12 states north of Virginia and east of Ohio.