Roddey fires back at Gerlach, endorses Corbett (Updated)

A few days after Republican Jim Gerlach’s gubernatorial campaign seized upon remarks by a top supporter of Tom Corbett to suggest that he thought Corbett should step down as state attorney general, the supporter angrily accused the Gerlach campaign of misleading voters and formally endorsed Corbett.

Allegheny County GOP head Jim Roddey had been quoted in The Post-Gazette as saying U.S. Attorney Mary Buchanan should resign her office if and when she decides to run for Congress, prompting the Gerlach campaign to claim Roddey supported Corbett’s resignation as well.

Roddey never said that, as he made clear in a letter to Gerlach Monday. Decrying the tactic as “what can only be described as an intentional deception on the part of your campaign,” Roddey said that “this type of dishonesty by your campaign is certainly troubling to say the least.”

Roddey went on to clarify that while the U.S. Attorney position is appointed and thus should be further removed from politics, the state attorney general is an elected office. He also took the opportunity to formally endorse Corbett, who he has long supported.

“In the last few months, I, and many other Republican leaders across the state, have become increasingly disappointed with the tone and rhetoric of your campaign,” Roddey wrote.

Click here to see Roddey’s letter.

UPDATE—Gerlach’s campaign responds with the following release:

Why is Allegheny County GOP Chairman So Mad About Gerlach Agreeing With Him?
(Exton, PA) – The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Gerlach on Monday said it was surprised to see Allegheny County GOP Chairman and long-time Tom Corbett supporter Jim Roddey get so mad at a candidate who agrees with him about why it’s appropriate for prosecutors to resign when running for other elected offices.
“Our press release simply highlighted Mr. Roddey’s astute observation that prosecutors must avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest and should step down once they formally declare their candidacy,” said Scott Migli, Gerlach campaign manager. “We couldn’t agree more with Mr. Roddey, and hope that he holds Mr. Corbett to the same high standard of behavior that he expressed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article published on Friday.”
Corbett, who is an announced candidate and sitting state attorney general, has refused to step down from his position, despite raising money and political support for months while simultaneously investigating political corruption in both parties.
In August, Congressman Jim Gerlach called on Corbett to either suspend his gubernatorial campaign or resign his position as Attorney General while conducting a wide-ranging political investigation into both parties. Despite raising money and political support for his gubernatorial effort since March from within the same political circles as those he is supposed to be investigating, Corbett officially announced his candidacy September 14th and has refused calls to step down as Attorney General.
Last month, the Patriot News, which first discovered the illegal bonuses that led to Corbett’s investigation, raised further concerns about Corbett’s political ambitions while trying to run a full-time investigation. The editorial board called on Corbett to make a decision by October, stating that “too much is at stake for taxpayers and good governance to see this critical investigation be called into question by election politics.”
And while other editorial boards around the state have called on Corbett to drop his bid for Governor, the Chambersburg Public Opinion wrote that “it doesn’t bode well for the state’s highest office when a leading candidate seems to mix the pursuit of justice with his own ambitions.”
Former US Attorney David Marston agreed. In an editorial he penned back in April, Marston said Corbett “does us all a disservice” by trying to campaign and prosecute at the same time, and that he needs to choose one over the other. He added that it raises too many questions: “if you were a state legislator under prosecutor Corbett’s microscope, would it not seem prudent to support Corbett for governor?” “Is he advancing the public interest in honest government, or his personal interest in becoming governor?” “Worse, the trials of cases brought in Bonusgate could very well take place during the heat of the gubernatorial race, presenting defense attorneys with a potent argument that it really is all about politics.”