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Beiler’s staying in Lt. Gov. race

Chet Beiler is staying put.

The former Lancaster GOP chairman told pa2010.com on Saturday that he’ll continue to run for Lieutenant Governor, despite not winning the state party’s endorsement earlier this month. His most immediate focus is getting on the ballot, a challenge compounded by the likelihood that Republican leaders will look for ballot signatures to challenge. Candidates need 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot, but some election lawyers recommend getting at least three times the required amount when expecting a legal challenge.

Beiler will also be running against the party’s endorsed candidate in Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley—but in a brief interview, Beiler played down that dynamic, continuing to allude to criticism he has voiced before that the endorsement process was too tightly controlled by, he says, a small number of party leaders in the southeast.

“I’m not running against the party, I’m running for the party,” he said. “We need to the party back from the control of the few.”

Reform advocate Russ Diamond and York County businessman Steve Johnson are also staying in the primary. Political operative Joe Watkins has not yet publicly said whether or not he’ll remain in the race.

February 20, 2010 at 7:58 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Chet Beiler, Jim Cawley, Joe Watkins, Lt. Gov., Russ Diamond, Steve Johnson

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