send to a friend | print | comment
Cawley wins GOP Lt. Gov. endorsement; Corbett and Toomey cruise (Updated)
Pennsylvania’s endorsed GOP ticket is set.
Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley won a hard-fought endorsement for Lieutenant Governor from the Republican State Committee Saturday, taking the victory on second-ballot voting shortly after party insiders also endorsed former Congressman Pat Toomey for Senate and Attorney General Tom Corbett for Governor.
Support for Toomey and Corbett hadn’t been in doubt for months, so it was the second-ticket spot that drew the most drama. A crowded field forced the voting to go to a second ballot, in which Cawley, thanks in large part to strong backing from the southeast, won more than enough votes to garner the needed majority.
Toomey and Corbett won easily.
The party’s field for Lt. Gov. began to narrow immediately, with news reports on the ground indicating that Nick DiFrancesco and Jean Craige Pepper had dropped out of the race. Businessman Steven Johnson and reform advocate Russ Diamond reiterated their intention to stay in the contest, while former Lancaster County GOP chairman Chet Beiler and political operative Joe Watkins had not yet made a decision.
“I am honored to be on the Corbett-Toomey team,” Cawley said. “If we all work together, there’s no doubt in my mind that we will win. And when we win, Washington will have a strong voice against bigger government, and Harrisburg will have a team committed to reforming government from top to bottom.”
For Toomey, the endorsement was the almost anti-climactic culmination of a nine-month turnaround, during which the party establishment went from frantically looking for an alternative candidate to uniting almost entirely behind the conservative former congressman. With Democrats looking to tie Toomey to Wall Street in the general election, Toomey signaled for the first time that he’s willing to take that attack head on.
“Some 20 years ago I worked for a Wall Street bank,” Toomey said after winning the endorsement, “and I can tell you from that experience that Wall Street firms are the last firms we should be bailing out. The left wing loves to bash Wall Street and they like sometimes to bash capitalism. Isn’t it ironic that it was Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak who voted for a nearly-trillion-dollar bailout that put American taxpayers on the the hook for the mistakes that were made by Wall Street firms? I can tell you that is not the kind of free enterprise system I support.”
For Corbett, the endorsement was an achievement never really in doubt, with Republican leaders favoring him as their gubernatorial candidate from the moment he won reelection the Democratic sweep year of 2008—if not even earlier. He now largely takes control of the party apparatus, and promised electoral success at the polls in November—even as his primary opponent Sam Rohrer looks to build a conservative movement outside the party structure, a division that Democrats delighted in pointing out over the weekend.
“I am honored by your endorsement, but I am by no means complacent,” Corbett said. “This is a critical year for all of Pennsylvania. this is a critical year for the Republicans in Pennsylvania”
“By focusing on our party’s prinicples,” Corbett said, the GOP will retake the Governor’s Mansion, win the U.S. Senate seat, retake control of the state House and retake the majority of the state’s congressional delegation.
But it was Cawley whose fate was most unclear until the votes were counted. Even though he held a formidable lead in regional caucus straw votes that preceded the statewide endorsement meeting, there was speculation up until the end that Corbett might weigh in more forcefully and advocate for a different candidate (it remained unclear to what extent, if any, Corbett rallied support for Cawley behind the scenes). There was even a push by some rank-and-file members to forgo endorsing in any of the three statewide races, which required a roll call vote to put down.
But in the end, Cawley’s strength in the southeast was too much for other candidates to overcome. Standing on the stage with his wife and son, Cawley pledged to be an energetic campaigner for Corbett and lauded an endorsement process that some candidates still criticized even after its completion.
“I will campaign tirelessly across our state to advance this critical agenda right through to November,” Cawley said.
February 13, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Tags: Jim Cawley, Lt. Gov., Pat Toomey, Tom Corbett
Leave a Reply
pa2012.com blogs
Red in a Sea of Blue
Purple in Pennsylvania
The Latest from @pa2012 news
More UpdatesStay connected with pa2012.com:
advertisement
advertisement
advertisement
Mike
Feb 13th, 2010
Congratulations to Pennsylvania! Tom, Pat and Jim will make a great team for PA.
...and then
Feb 13th, 2010
The voters still have to decide…..
hasbeens
Feb 13th, 2010
I hope Watkins stays in. He can beat Cawley in the Southeast and take the state.
Run Joe Run
Plumbridge Pete
Feb 13th, 2010
Corbett & Cawley for the Commonwealth!!!!
Luke
Feb 13th, 2010
Boring….
Frank
Feb 13th, 2010
What a disgrace! The parties should stay out of the primaries and let the voters decide. I hope all those who were not endorsed stay in the race. I will not vote for ANY endorsed candidate.
Plumbridge Pete
Feb 13th, 2010
Franky, please dont be cranky…..
David Dennis
Feb 13th, 2010
You are correct, And Then. The voters still need to decide.
And there is another choice, someone who will definitely stand out against today’s rather bland bunch of Lieutenant Governor candidates.
Billy McCue
http://www.billymccue.com/
Billy’s mother died due to careless treatment at an assisted living facility. The facility was trusted to do a good job … but even though Billy visited her every week, problems emerged that eventually killed her.
He is running to make sure this doesn’t happen to your mother or mine. We trust these homes and often our trust in them is misplaced.
His common-sense reforms, requiring more frequent inspections and better oversight will cost little but do much. We don’t need to bust the budget to make a real difference to our seniors in the Commonwealth.
We hope you will visit our site and read our detailed platform. We think you’ll like what you see.
David Dennis
Campaign Manager
Billy McCue for Lieutenant Governor
[This message was held for moderation earlier, I think because I included the site's URL too many times. Moderators, you can delete the earlier copy if you want].
Stop Wasteful Spending
Feb 14th, 2010
uggghhhh! I hate seeing THIS PIC OF Cawley, he just reminds me of a VAMPIRE come to suck the life out of the Commonwealth of PA!
Momof5
Feb 14th, 2010
VOTER BEWARE!!!!!!!! – Corbett’s camp state the Tea Party Activists are in Fairy Tale Land. This is what the Rohrer conference was told on Saturday after the Corbett coronation. However, those in Fairy Tale Land accompanied Pennsylvania’s trip to help Scott Brown in Massachusetts. My question is – was that the Tea Party Group’s allowing the Corbett camp to hitch a ride with them, or the Corbett camp allowing the Tea Party group to hitch a ride with them. The only reason that the Pennsylvania GOP endorsed Tom Corbett, is because they are afraid of Sam Rohrer. They are afraid of their new life being just as mundane as the Pennsylvania taxpayers’ life. Imagine the MACHINE having to honestly work for a living! I cannot imagine anything better than that. It’s time to get the MACHINE off our backs and stand up for our State. And after we take the State back, we take our COUNTRY back.
Dan Wilson
Feb 14th, 2010
Now here is a candidate that nobody has even thought about. Grass roots is what this guy is all about – and the money he has puts the Mellon Family to shame.
Wait to you see what he brings to the table.
You go McCue!
Fay McFadden
Feb 14th, 2010
Dan,
I watched this young man of 48 come to life at a speak he did for a group of seniors – he’s like watching Kennedy all over again – great command of the language and deep emotional respect..
It’s difficult when the GOP endorses a fellow like Cawley when McCue is more qualified and packed with a real emotional punch.
Maybe Corbett thinks McCue is too close to Pittsburgh for him to carry the state – I personally think that after hearing McCue speak – Corbett should just sit in the buss and let McCue handle the stump speeches.
Oh, well – maybe Cawley will get stuck in the back allow of financial problems.
Linda Ludy
Feb 15th, 2010
Once again, the GOP machine at work.
While they met to endorse there candidates on Saturday there were over 300 people in a room right down the hall meeting with THE PEOPLE”S choice for governor, Sam Rohrer.
The party should have voted for NO ENDORSEMENTS and should put the candidates on the ballot and let WE THE PEOPLE decide. After all, isn’t that what a primary is for??
If Arlen Spector was still in the Republican party would they have endorsed him over Toomey?? Probably…so what does that tell you about the GOP good old boy party??
Karl Jacobson
Feb 17th, 2010
Cawley will lose to the Democratic Grass Roots candidate who is about to announce…
Karl Jacobson
Feb 17th, 2010
Not a shoo in, new candidates for Lt Governor coming forward.
Joe
Mar 2nd, 2010
Peg Luksik is a superb candidate for US Senate.
Purdy
Mar 9th, 2010
Look up Steve Johnson. He is everywhere! Other candidates stating what Johnson has been rallying with all along. My vote is with Steve Johnson for Lt. Gov. – I want a real patriot to be our eyes and ears in the Senate and in the Governor’s office.
kelly
May 17th, 2010
While I am a proud republician, I will NOT vote for any endorsed candidate. We all know what that means here in PA – it’s NEVER the best candidate. GO ROHER….we are pulling for you~! Still undecided between Kennedy and McCue for LT GOV.
名牌汇，幽默，爆笑，恐怖，悬疑，惊悚，故事
Nov 9th, 2011
Fantastic items from you, man. I’ve take into accout your stuff prior to and you are just too magnificent. I actually like what you have got here, certainly like what you are saying and the best way during which you assert it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to take care of to stay it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is really a great website.