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Southeast leaders endorse Cawley; setback for Aichele (Updated)
Republican Party leaders in southeast Pennsylvania gave Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor a significant boost Wednesday, endorsing him in a non-binding straw vote over Chester County Commissioner Carol Aichele.
The support of the party’s southeast caucus amounted to a coup for Cawley and a setback for Aichele. The two county commissioners and GOP operative Joe Watkins have been seen by many party insiders as the leading contenders to join Attorney General Tom Corbett on a gubernatorial ticket. And Aichel’s poor showing, coupled with the marginal number of votes she received during a recent central caucus vote, seemed to signal that the Republican establishment is leaning away from her as a potential partner for Corbett.
Exact results of the straw poll were not released, but the caucus said that Cawley had received a “solid majority” of the vote and that Aichele was the only other candidate to garner any votes. Caucus chairman Michael Meehan could not immediately be reached for comment, but he told The Bucks County Courier Times that he hopes the endorsement will “catapult” Cawley’s candidacy.
“He’s a bright, energetic leader,” Meehan said. “He’s been elected countywide. I think he’d be a welcome addition on the state scene.”
A campaign aide to Aichele did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The vote would also appear to be a setback to Watkins, though not nearly as severe. He fared better than both Cawley and Aichele among the more conservative central caucus leaders, and his supporters are more often found in the grassroots. And while Cawley’s campaign was quick to draw attention to Wednesday’s vote, his nomination is still far from a sure thing; even before the vote, there were rumblings in conservative circles of a possible grassroots revolt if Cawley joins Corbett on the ticket.
UPDATES: Amid conflicting reports of exactly how the vote was broken down, Meehan tells pa2010.com he can’t provide specific numbers and reiterates the “solid majority” wording. “We’re in a position of picking between fiends,” Meehan says. “Jim Cawley and Carol Aichele are friends to everyone in this caucus.”
People familiar with the meeting of the county party chairs say that the four counties other than Chester County supported Cawley. But someone close to the Aichele campaign claims that Montgomery County voted for Aichele. The traditional secrecy of these votes makes a clear picture harder to ascertain. Montgomery County GOP chairman Bob Kerns could not immediately be reached.
“We’re pleased because it was a split vote,” an Aichele campaign aide said. “We understand Jim Cawley has won the backing of Philadelphia and we’re pleased for him. But we still think Carol plays better throughout the state.”
January 13, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Tags: Carol Aichele, Jim Cawley, Joe Watkins, Lt. Gov., Tom Corbett
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Anonymous Insider
Jan 13th, 2010
Philly and Asher backed Cawley. Aichele gets the more conservative Chesco and Montgomery. Watkins gets nada! Looks like it’s down to two.
Anonymous
Jan 13th, 2010
To: Anonymous Insider
I would not wear that Corbett/Aichele or Corbett/Cawley campaign button just yet. Even Hilary Clinton got caught measuring the drapes, we now learn.
Bob Guzzardi
Jan 14th, 2010
The following is the vote count. It is not broken out by county. Both Cawley and Aichele are the choice of Earmarking Establishment. Actually, Joe Watkins brings a lot to the ticket.
Corbett-Cawley, Toomey win SEPA Caucus Straw Poll…
Republican State Committee Endorsement Tally Board*
Governor
Tom Corbett 177
Sam Rohrer 16
Lt Governor
Jim Cawley 87
Chet Beiler 29
Nick DiFrancesco 26
Carol Aichele 20
Joe Watkins 17
Steve Johnson 9
Craige Pepper 1
Greg Sahd 1
Russ Diamond 0
US Senate
Pat Toomey 186
Peg Luksik 4
*Unofficial Tally Based on reports from Central and Southeast Caucuses
Greg Sahd said to be out of GOP Lt. Gov race…
Bob Guzzardi 119 East Montgomery Ave. Unit #3 Ardmore, Penna. 19003
The Conservative Reform Network http://crnblog.org
SEPA Nugget
Jan 14th, 2010
Watkins has a unique opportunity to tell the rest of the state committee caucuses that he is not controlled by the SEPA party machine. He can say that he is a Philadelphia Republican, with national reach, whose not owned by those who have ruined the brand in the city and region for over 50 years. The rest of the State simply does not trust what the SE power brokers do, they will now see Watkins in a new light and might back him more robustly because of it. Watkins apparently did not get one vote in SEPA. That may well be a very good thing for him.
Business as Usual
Jan 14th, 2010
This phantom straw poll does nothing to enhance the chances of Jim Cawley being Tom Corbett’s nominee. It re-affirms the fact that Cawley is in the pocket of the SE power players.
Joe Watkins is the only candidate who is acceptable to the grassroots and is the candidate who has the best chance of helping the ticket.
Anonymous
Jan 14th, 2010
Noticing that this guy has video….Watkins is a 1st rate guy. Who does videos thanking people for helping them even AFTER they lost in an overall straw poll? Classy. BTW, he came in 3rd place, beating Cawley and Aichele in Central Caucus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C96L3uSDPM
Paying attention now..
Jan 14th, 2010
This guy must be scaring the bejesus out of other LG Candidates and their supporters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOdotjSQPFE
Bob
Jan 15th, 2010
Is it not clear that Cawley is NOT qualified to be Lt. Governor? He won one race for county commission after being appointed to the seat to fill a vacancy for a guy he was a staffer to. Should we not be considering candidates that are qualified to be Governor? God forbid if something happened to the Governor? Cawley is definitely not that person.
Plumbridge Pete
Jan 15th, 2010
Bob, you must be a product of the PA Public School Educational System. Your statement does not bear out the facts. If you want to state that your OPINION is that some one is not qualified to be or do something, so be it. You are entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts.
If you can dispute the requirements listed, or need help with any of the big words in the following paragraph, just raise your hand.
§ 5. Qualifications of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and
Attorney General.
No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor,
Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General except a citizen of the
United States, who shall have attained the age of 30 years, and
have been seven years next preceding his election an inhabitant
of this Commonwealth, unless he shall have been absent on the
public business of the United States or of this Commonwealth. No
person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General
except a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4; May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365,
J.R.4)
SEastPA
Jan 20th, 2010
It is interesting that people supporting a candidate who is losing in the south-east of Pennsylvania resort to tactics of branding the front runner as “unqualified” and “controlled by the sepa party machine”. Heaven forbid a candidate win the support of a crucial area of Pennsylvania and not rely on the slim-to-none chance of being elected by the more sparsely populated areas. Keep supporting a candidate that will not win a nomination, rather than supporting and shaping an obviously strong and talented candidate such as Jim Cawley.
Well
Jan 20th, 2010
Cawley is qualified to be LG. No argument. But he’s not gonna help Corbett in this kind of State race with these kind of National national implications. This is not the time or place to support and shape a talented candidate. The Dems will bring machine guns, Republicans will brings .38s with someone like Cawley. It’s not fair to him honestly. Scott Brown won mainly because he ran a smart campaign, but mostly Coakley was not ready for prime time and it showed. Can’t replicate that here in Pa. on the R-side.
Dead Cats: TVTownHall, 02/01/10, (2)14 James Brody | Dead Cats & Clippings
Feb 1st, 2010
[...] he said had been sent to GOP state committee members and county party chairs, was responding to the southeast caucus’ endorsement of Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley earlier this month. Unlike other regional Republican straw votes—which bring together candidates for a large swath [...]