For me, as a progressive, Hoeffel was a breath of fresh air on the key social issues where Onorato turned me off, so the contrast was distinct. Hoeffel did not mince words on his positions. Admittedly, it was a liberal crowd, so he wasn’t in much danger.

But, it was a noticeable contrast to Onorato carefully choosing his words like he was stepping through a liberal minefield.

Hoeffel’s got a high hill to climb. There were of course the explanations/calculations as to why Hoeffel stood a good chance of winning. I point this out because EVERY candidate has a way to look at the numbers to see a path to victory, so I wasn’t disappointed.

My own argument, is that the best path for Hoeffel is for Onorato and Wagner to cancel each other out by splitting the conservative Dems, and leaving the progressives to Hoeffel in the Southeast.

Knox could drain some votes from Hoeffel in the Southeast, as Knox has name recognition in the area as well as some liberal positions. I don’t have the specifics on Knox, but he’s probably between Hoeffel and the other Dem candidates on the political spectrum.