LEFTOVERS: Building trades endorsements, Kanjo negotiates, Jobgate (still) lives

The state’s largest builders union made a pair of post-primary endorsements this week, backing Democratic Senate nominee Joe Sestak and gubernatorial hopeful Dan Onorato. The umbrella Pennsylvania State Building & Construction Trades represents more than 100,000 workers in the state. The group’s present said Frank Sirianni said of Sestak: “Pennsylvania does not need to move backwards by electing a candidate who has already shown his inability to lead as a Congressman. Our council is proud…

June 9, 2010 at 11:11 pm | Comments (16)

Guv candidates ask for cash as deadline looms

The money fight in the gubernatorial race is already well under way, but Monday night’s state campaign finance deadline had the candidates and their campaigns pitching for some last-minute cash.

The post-primary was set to close at midnight, and reports filed later this month will provide the first snapshot of how Democrat Dan Onorato and Republican Tom Corbett are faring in the run-up to the general election. Onorato spent heavily in a competitive four-way primary…

June 7, 2010 at 1:43 pm | Comments (1)

Onorato says ticket with Conklin is ‘progressive’

CLARIFICATION APPENDED (See bottom)

PITTSBURGH—By most measures, the Democratic ticket for governor is a relatively conservative one by party standards—both gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato and running mate Scott Conklin reside on the right flank of the party’s political spectrum on social issues like abortion.

But Onorato says he’s not worried about any trouble exciting the Democratic base.

“We’re one of the more progressive tickets out there,” Onorato told pa2010.com during

June 7, 2010 at 10:23 am | Comments (7)

OFA kicks off midterm campaign drive (VIDEO)

PHOENIXVILLE—Less than two years after he leaned on a community-organizing-style effort to win the White House, President Obama and the political organization born out of his campaign are set for their biggest electoral test to date: the midterm elections.

Organizing for America, Obama’s arm of the Democratic National Committee, kicked off their 2010 efforts in earnest this weekend, with events throughout the country that brought candidates and volunteers together to begin the difficult work of…

June 6, 2010 at 11:40 am | Comments (14)

Poll: Corbett up 16 in guv race

Five months before the general election for governor, Republican Tom Corbett is holding a comfortable 16-point lead, according to a new poll.

full story

June 5, 2010 at 10:57 am | Comments (16)

Onorato: Polls are ‘moving in the right direction’

Democrat Dan Onorato says he’s not worried about the polls that show him facing an early gap against Republican rival Tom Corbett.

Onorato, appearing on Fox29 in Philadelphia Wednesday morning, noted that he is already closing the gap against Corbett, with a deficit that most surveys had at about 20 percent narrowing down to low double-digits.

“We’re excited about those numbers because if you go back six months it was a 20-point gap,” Onorato said,…

June 2, 2010 at 10:30 am | Comments (8)

Pols pass on a chance to hang with Obama

Elected officials aren’t exactly tripping over themselves to spend time with President Obama during his visit to Pittsburgh Wednesday.

The Tribune-Review

June 2, 2010 at 10:25 am | Comments (18)

Onorato hits lawmakers over grand jury report

Democrat Dan Onorato on Tuesday lobbed pointed criticism at state lawmakers for their less-then-urgent reactions to a grand jury report that highlighted a need for legislative reform.

Onorato, the party’s gubernatorial nominee, spoke during a late-morning news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg, before he was set to join running mate Scott Conklin and continue talking up his reform plans in State College later in the day.

“It is simply outrageous that even in the…

June 1, 2010 at 12:49 pm | Comments (6)

Onorato welcomes running mate

More than a week after he won the Democratic nomination for governor, Dan Onorato now has a running mate. And he’s welcoming state Representative Scott Conklin with open arms.

“Scott Conklin became a state Representative because he was disgusted with the Harrisburg culture after the infamous legislative pay grab,” Onorato said in a statement Wednesday. “Just as I took on an entrenched incumbent to become County Executive, Scott earned his seat by demanding reform and…

May 26, 2010 at 7:21 pm | Comments (14)

Corbett withdraws Twitter subpoena

Facing a raft of criticism from Democrats and civil liberties advocates, Attorney General Tom Corbett has withdrawn his subpoena seeking information about two Twitter users who post fiercely critical missives about him on the micro-blogging service.

The Post-Gazette

May 21, 2010 at 5:35 pm | Comments (22)