The First Read — July 15, 2009

Every Monday-Thursday morning, pa2010.com compiles the most important political news of the day, from newspapers to the blogosphere and back. Enjoy this edition.

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Gerlach makes it official: He’s running for Governor
Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) will run for Governor next year, adding another Republican to the competitive primary field and creating an open House seat that the GOP will be hard-pressed to defend. Read More
See Also on pa2010.com: Schroder declares candidacy to replace Gerlach in PA-6

NRSC endorses Toomey
The National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed former Lehigh Valley Congressman Pat Toomey on Tuesday, effectively ending the search for an alternative GOP candidate at the national level. Read More

Santorum denies rumors of invelvement in Senate recruiting
Rumors have been swirling this week that former Senator Rick Santorum was the key player in bringing state Senator Jane Orie down to Washington to meet with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and trying to convince her to run against Pat Toomey. Several Republicans have asked me to look into this. Conservatives who back Toomey are convinced that Santorum has an axe to grind and that he’s driving efforts to find an alternative GOP candidate. Read More

Fumo gets 55 months
Former state Senator Vincent J. Fumo was sentenced to 55 months today for his federal corruption conviction. Fumo, 66, a once-powerful Democrat, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter, who presided over the five-month trial that ended in March with Fumo’s conviction on all 137 counts against him. Read More

Sestak visits Pittsburgh on pre-campaign tour
U.S. Representative Joe Sestak swung through Pittsburgh today on his 67-county tour of Pennsylvania, in preparation for a 2010 Democratic primary run against Sen. Arlen Specter. Sestak said by the end of Tuesday he will have toured 51 counties and intends to visit the remaining counties by July 20. Read More

Specter says he has $7.5M on hand
Senator Arlen Specter’s campaign raised almost $1.75 million during the last quarter and has about $7.5 million on hand, the campaign said Tuesday. Read More

Pike rolls out endorsements, fundraising numbers
On a day when incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) is expected to announce a gubernatorial bid, the Democrat who seeks to replace him rolled out a series of endorsements and said he had $630,000 in campaign cash. Read More

Dauphin County commissioner sets sights on lieutenant governor post
A Dauphin County commissioner has set out on a cross-state motorcycle tour to spread the word about the need for change in government. Nick DiFrancesco, a Republican lieutenant governor candidate, says he’s the man to help bring about better leadership in Harrisburg. Read More

Senate Democrats Hire New Press Secretary
Lisa Scullin, most recently a reporter for WHTM-27, an ABC affiliate in Harrisburg, has signed on as Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow’s new press secretary, his office confirmed this afternoon. Read More

Behind the scenes, Sestak and Specter keep up the sniping
In messages to supporters Monday, Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) continued to pound one another ahead of their expected Senate primary fight next year. Their attacks didn’t tread new ground, instead mostly reiterating points made in their salvos last week. Read More

The 7th deserves better
In a Voice piece, Republican Steven Welch explains why he’s running for Congress. Read More

Have a great day!