With deep local support, Saidel enters Lt. Gov. race

PHILADELPHIA—After more than a year of fundraising and building party support, former Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Saidel formally entered the race for Lieutenant Governor on Monday, saying he was eager to return to public service and expand the role of an office usually seen as mostly ceremonial figurehead.

“I’m running because I miss helping people,” Saidel said before a cadre of elected officials and party leaders at City Hall here. “I really miss helping people. …

January 25, 2010 at 7:24 pm | Comments (4)

Rizzo: ‘I bring Philadelphia’

Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr. doesn’t think it’s too late to be ramping up a campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

After months of mostly silence and before he appears at two regional caucuses this weekend, Rizzo, a Republican, said that city law coupled with a broken ankle had forced him to lay low recently. He’s has to quit his City Council seat when he starts circulating nominating petitions next month—”I’m the only [candidate] who’s require …

January 25, 2010 at 4:33 pm | Comments (11)

Rohrer wants to debate Corbett before GOP endorsement meeting

State Attorney General Tom Corbett seems to be marching confidently to the Republican nomination for governor, but state Representative Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) says not so fast.

Rohrer, the conservative underdog who has been building a grassroots campaign, called on Monday for the state Republican Party to hold a televised debate between him and Corbett before it makes an endorsement at its meeting next month, The Associated Press reports. Speaking before the Pennsylvania Press Club in …

January 25, 2010 at 4:19 pm | Comments (0)

Onorato to rack up more endorsements Tuesday

Continuing to build up party support ahead of the May gubernatorial primary, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will roll out endorsements from elected officials and other political leaders across the state on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel snagged an endorsement from his Democratic rival’s home base.

In Allentown and Easton Tuesday afternoon, Onorato’s candidacy will be backed by, among others, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Allentown City Council members Julio Guridy and Ray O’Connell, …

January 25, 2010 at 1:26 pm | Comments (4)

Rizzo making late Lt. Gov. push

After what seemed like months of silence, it looks like Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr. is going to make a run at the GOP nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

Rizzo, the son of the late Mayor Frank Rizzo, had expressed his interest in the job last year, and allies to Attorney General and gubernatorial front-runner Tom Corbett had reached out to him about joining a party ticket. But since then, he’s been eerily quiet as …

January 25, 2010 at 8:45 am | Comments (18)

Cawley chuckles at criticism of southeast endorsement (Updated)

LANGHORNE—Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley, who’s increasingly emerging as a leading Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, thinks that any criticism of how …

January 23, 2010 at 4:01 pm | Comments (26)

Pro-choice advocate to head up Hoeffel’s outreach to women

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel’s gubernatorial campaign said Friday that the former president of the country’s leading abortion rights advocacy group would be heading up its “Women for Hoeffel” initiative.

Kate Michelman, who led NARAL Pro-Choice America for almost 20 years, was a key figure in building the organization’s political profile. She will be on hand when Hoeffel, a Democrat, formally declares his candidacy in a series of kick-off events this week. Expected to be …

January 23, 2010 at 9:00 am | Comments (1)

Watkins decries southeast straw poll process

Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate Joe Watkins on Friday voiced dismay over the process by which southeast Republican leaders endorsed a candidate for the race, calling it dangerously undemocratic, especially in the wake of a Massachusetts special election that revealed a deep-seated, anti-establishment feeling among voters.

Watkins, in an interview and in a letter he said had been sent to GOP state committee members and county party chairs, was responding to pIn his letter, Watkins, a favorite of grassroots conservatives who are voicing displeasure at the prospect of having Cawley on the party’s gubernatorial ticket, cited an earlier empa2010.com/em report in decrying the latest endorsement process.’/p
p“In the last week, some of my supporters in the Southeast counties have called to re-affirm their support,” Watkins wrote. “Some said that they were never canvassed. Others said that they were called but when they said that they supported me—were told they could only choose between Cawley and Aichele./p
p“Two days ago the voters of Massachusetts sent a message not only to the Democrat[ic] Party but to anyone seeking public office,” Watkins added. “The voters—whether Republican or Democrat or importantly Independent—want an end to business as usual. They want government officials who will listen to their concerns and views whether it’s about run away spending or the choice of a party’s nominee. Lest we forget, just last November in a special election, our party lost a solidly Republican seat in upstate New York because a few party leaders decided—they alone knew best who should be the candidate.”/p
pWatkins, a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/01/analysis-gerlachs-exit-simplifies-lt-gov-primary/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fanalysis-gerlachs-exit-simplifies-lt-gov-primary%2F','who+along+with+Cawley+and+Aichele+is+seen+as+one+of+the+leading+Lt.+Gov.+contenders')" target="_blank">who along with Cawley and …

January 22, 2010 at 5:48 pm | Comments (17)

Doherty says he’s raised $1.1M, about two-thirds of it from mayoral race

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty’s campaign said Friday that it had raised $1.1 million in 2009, a sum including money brought in for his reelection race that can now be used for his gubernatorial bid.

The campaign said it had raised almost $675,000 for his mayoral race, and another $441,000 for his gubernatorial race. The latter total was a bit more than Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel raised at the end of the year, but since …

January 22, 2010 at 5:23 pm | Comments (7)

Hoeffel says Knox’s exit is a ‘big boost for me’

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel said Friday that Tom Knox’s withdrawal from the Democratic gubernatorial primary will allow him to solidify his southeast base, even though he faces the likely prospect of being significantly outspent in the five-county Philadelphia area.

“It’s a big boost for me,” Hoeffel told pa2010.com. It allows me to solidiffty my support in the southeast.

“I already had a 20-point lead over Tom in the southeast, with the other candidates …

January 22, 2010 at 3:10 pm | Comments (9)