Incumbents of both parties were targeted by state pay raise opponents in the months leading to Tuesday's primary, but the day's victims were disproportionately Republican.

Champions and casualties of that upheaval agreed that it would have consequences in November in and beyond the legislative races. In particular, several experts suggested, the evidence of disaffection among core Republican voters presents challenges for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann in promoting the big GOP turnout they will need in November.

"One message you have to take away is that rank-and-file Republican voters are very angry with incumbents,'' said Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, an influential conservative lobbying group. "It's a mistake to conclude this was all about the pay raise. This has been brewing for some time and it's about dissatisfaction with elected Republicans who have abandoned a commitment to limited government.''

Blair County Commissioner John Eichelberger, who took the most prominent GOP scalp Tuesday in wresting the Republican nomination from incumbent state Sen. Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, said that GOP estrangement with Mr. Jubelirer and other legislative leaders preceded last July's abortive pay raise effort.

He said a poll of the Blair County district taken last June, two weeks before the July 7 pay raise vote, showed widespread dissatisfaction with the incumbent over issues including his support of several tax increases.

A variety of leading conservatives, including Mr. Toomey, have voiced similar criticisms of the fiscal performance of the Bush administration and the Republican majorities in Congress. At a pre-primary meeting of the Republican Assembly, a group dedicated to prodding the party toward its conservative roots, Mr. Toomey said that many Washington Republicans had "lost their way" in abetting a fiscal culture of deficits and pork barrel spending.

"There is unquestionably discontent within the Republican Party,'' former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton, an unsuccessful candidate for his party's gubernatorial nomination, said Tuesday night. Mr. Scranton, along with Mr. Toomey, was among a cadre of prominent conservative Republicans who worked for the ouster of Mr. Jubelirer and other incumbents they characterized as complicit in the budget approaches of Democrats like Gov. Ed Rendell.

While no friend of Mr. Jubelirer, Mr. Scranton did agree with him Tuesday in describing his ouster as part of an anti-incumbent impulse that went well beyond the Republican Party.

"There is a strong feeling in Pennsylvania to 'throw the bums out,' " he said.

In an echo of that analysis, Mr. Jubelirer predicted that the anti-incumbent impulse would cross party lines in November just as it did Tuesday.

"If I were Ed Rendell, I would be mighty worried,'' he said.

Despite its Democratic registration advantage, President Bush just missed carrying Pennsylvania in 2004, a relatively strong showing based on a record Republican get-out-the-vote effort. Mr. Santorum chaired the president's state campaign. His re-election hopes, along with Mr. Swann's bid to oust Mr. Rendell, depend in large part on their ability to similarly energize the GOP's grass roots.

Mr. Toomey has endorsed and campaigned for Mr. Santorum despite the incumbent's support for his colleague, Sen. Arlen Specter, in his narrow GOP primary victory over Mr. Toomey two years ago. He said the Club for Growth's polling had suggested that the possibility of discouraged Republican voters was a concern for Mr. Santorum and other GOP candidates in congressional races across the country.

"I'm more concerned about that now than ever,'' he said yesterday. "What we saw yesterday was the Republican voters are very angry.''

Mr. Toomey said he didn't expect Republican voters to migrate to the Democratic column, but warned that "there is the danger that in the fall that anger and frustration is manifested in a suppressed turnout.''

In a statement released by his campaign, Mr. Swann welcomed Tuesday's results, saying they demonstrated that Pennsylvania voters "want change.''

"Real change starts with retiring the state's top career politician Ed Rendell,'' he continued. "As the Republican Party's official nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, I will tirelessly campaign to change the culture in Harrisburg and usher in the sweeping reform that has eluded both sides of the political aisle under Ed Rendell."

In the eyes of some GOP dissidents, however, one chink in their nominee's reform armor is that while Mr. Swann opposed the pay raise, he was closely allied with some of Tuesday's GOP casualties, notably Mr. Jubelirer. Mr. Swann endorsed the GOP leader and campaigned at his side in the final days of the race.

"From Swann's perspective, you can make the argument that [the primary results] show that Pennsylvania wants change, and it would be really great if Lynn Swann would show that he wants to lead real reform in Pennsylvania,'' said Chris Lillik, chairman of Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania. "But he needs conservatives to vote for him and we were disappointed to see him endorse Sen. Jubelirer. It just isn't smart to get involved in primary fights.''