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In endorsements and staffing, Onorato’s emphasis is on the southeast

PHILADELPHIA—Whoever takes the Democratic nomination for governor will have to win big in southeast Pennsylvania, where the bulk of the primary electorate resides. That poses a challenge for western Pennsylvanian Dan Onorato, one his campaign has been working hard to overcome early and often.

Its highest-profile endorsements, most recently one from Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) on Saturday, have come from elected officials in the Philadelphia region. Its largest staff presence is found in a downtown Philadelphia office on Chestnut Street, where it already has more than half-a-dozen employees, including a field director and a political director specifically for the eastern part of the state. And in the most expensive media market in the state, the campaign seems poised to deploy much of its early financial edge to introduce Onorato to voters who don’t know him.

As Murphy introduced Onorato to labor leaders after receiving his endorsement here Saturday, the value of having friends in this neighborhood became clear.

“It’s very important,” Onorato said of the southeast in a brief interview. “I spend a lot of my time here to get known. And to have someone like Congressman Murphy endorse me gives a lot of credibility to my campaign. I’ve got a broad group of support that’s growing daily in this region.”

If there’s any risk, it’s in the possibility of ceding his home base to Onorato’s political foe, state Auditor General Jack Wagner. Both hail from Pittsburgh. But Onorato doesn’t sound concerned about that.

“My numbers are very good in the west because people have watched me govern as a county executive for six years,” he said.

Added campaign spokesman Dan Fee: “We know the size of the population here and the makeup of the primary electorate, and we’re going to be competing here.”

December 5, 2009 at 3:28 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Dan Onorato

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