Archive for July, 2009
Jane Orie worried that a Senate run would have hurt sister’s judicial bid
The word on the street is that Jane Orie’s short-lived exploration about a 2010 U.S. Senate bid was indeed shut down quick due to concern about potential damage her sister’s judicial race.
In other words: If
Full StoryJoe Sestak on EFCA Senate compromise
By JOE SESTAK FOR CONGRESS
A statement from Joe Sestak on a compromise removing majority sign up from the Senate Employee Free Choice Act:
“As an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, I strongly support the legislation as it was originally written. Last year I also co-sponsored and voted for the legislation, because American families are hurting. Here are the facts: President George W. Bush’s own National Labor Relations Board found that 50%…
Full StoryAttorney General Corbett announces $5.4 million multi-state settlement over slow disclosure of negative drug study results
By THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL TOM CORBETT
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett announced that Pennsylvania, together with 35 other states, has reached a $5.4 million consumer protection settlement with Merck & Co. Inc, Shering-Plough Corporation, and a joint venture of the two companies, MSP Singapore Company.
Corbett said the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) resolves an investigation into the companies’ lengthy delay in releasing negative results from a clinical study involving the cholesterol…
Full StoryOnorato Officially Opens County’s New Medical Examiner Facility 
By THE OFFICE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY EXECUTIVE DAN ONORATO
PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato today officially opened the new
Medical Examiner facility, which includes the County’s crime lab and morgue. The 80,000-
square-foot facility will provide forensic, analytical and medical testing services to law
enforcement agencies throughout Allegheny County.
“This state-of-the-art facility includes a number of new features that will improve the medical
examiner’s efficiency and effectiveness, including a…
FRIDAY LEFTOVERS: Specter stays on the attack, another endorsement for Pike and the GOP eyes Callahan
A few items slipped by us at pa2010.com Central in the madness of covering campaign finance data.
After staying quiet for weeks, Senator Arlen Specter’s campaign has been on the attack almost daily against presumed opponent Joe Sestak. The campaign Full Story
Specter will vote for Sotomayor
Senator Arlen Specter said Friday that he would vote in favor of confirming Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
“Judge Sonia Sotomayor brought to the Judiciary Committee hearings an outstanding record academically, as a prosecutor and as a commercial lawyer plus 17 distinguished years as a federal judge,” Specter said in a statement. “At the hearings she displayed intellect, restraint and judicial demeanor. As the third woman and the first Hispanic, she will add…
Full StoryGerlach has $200K in House account
As he neared a decision to not seek reeleciton in favor of a gubernatorial bid, Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) still raised about $200,000, finishing the second quarter with about that much on hand, according to campaign finance data.
Gerlach is expected to roll that money into his gubernatorial campaign, for which the more stringent federal campaign finance rules do not apply.
Dahlkemper has $456K on hand
Approaching the always challenging freshman reelection test, Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) has almost half-a-million dollars in campaign cash.
Dahlkemper raised about $265,000 over the last three months, according to campaign finance data. She has spent lightly, and entered the third quarter with about $456,000 in campaign cash on hand.
As a freshman representing a historically conservatice district, Dahlkemper is expected to be heavily challenged by Republicans next year, though exactly who will emerge to run…
Full StoryDoes Toomey have a shot in Pa?
No way—at least according to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.
Back at the end of April, pWould the the NRSC back Toomey? “I don’t think so,” Hatch said. He advised the party to look for “someone who can win there.”/p
pFast forward to Tuesday when the NSRC a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/nrsc-endorses-toomey/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fnrsc-endorses-toomey%2F','officially+endorsed')"officially endorsed/a Toomey’s run for office. The man Senator Hatch told the world less than two months ago had no chance of winning an election in Pennsylvania has now gotten the blessing of the organization Hatch helps lead—one whose role is to elect Republicans to the Senate nationwide./p
pLet’s face it: Pat Toomey is not the NRSC’s favorite choice to run in this seat. Tom Ridge and Jane Orie were courted by party heavyweights to jump into the primary, yet both declined. Pennsylvania Republicans were not eager to take on Specter in a general election, and saw a run in 2010 as an exercise in futility. That left the GOP with only one good option—lining up behind the most serious contender in the race. As May turned into June, Republicans began nervously eying the electoral calendar. The GOP primary will be on May 18, 2010. With less than a year to go, and no other serious Pennsylvania Republicans looking to run for the Senate seat, the Republicans were forced to endorse./p
pToomey, for his part, has begun going through the motions of a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24350_Page2.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.politico.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2Fstories%2F0609%2F24350_Page2.html','reaching+out+to+the+center%2C')">reaching out to the center, a smart move for a conservative running in a state where registered Democrats currently outnumber Republicans by 1.2 million voters. The GOP is hoping that a
