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Former state Rep. Kennedy considering jumping into Lt. Gov. race

More than a dozen Republicans are already thinking of running for Lieutenant Govenor, but former state Representative John Kennedy is mulling adding his name to that list, too.

Kennedy, who represented Cumberland County in the 1980s before losing GOP primaries for state Tresurer and state Senate, told pa2010.com that he was considering a run for the office, which he said could be far better utilized than it has been in the past.

“I’m not looking for a ceremonial position,” said Kennedy, a longtime businessman in the railroad industry in East Pennsboro. “I’d be looking to get into a position where you can actually move the direction of the Commonwealth.”

In a year when Republicans have high hopes of recapturing the Governor’s Mansion, Kennedy would enter a crowded primary field if he decides to run. He said that wouldn’t dissuade him.

“Either I decide to do this or I don’t,” Kennedy said, adding that a decision likely wouldn’t come for some time.

After 8 years in the state House, Kennedy lost a close GOP primary for Treasurer in 1988 and lost a bid for state Senate in 1992. Since then he has been mostly quiet politically, emerging briefly after the 2005 legislative-payraise uproar. At the time, he was a vocal advocate of repealing the unpopular pay hikes, which the General Assembly eventually did. To his proponents, that record of fiscal discipline would make him a strong candidate.

Kennedy said he wanted to give small businesses a bigger role in governance.

“Since the Founding Fathers, we have never assembled the men and women who actually create wealth and jobs,” he said. “I would love to see those who create the taxes play a stronger role in deciding how they’re spent.”

June 9, 2009 at 3:55 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: John Kennedy, Lt. Gov.

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