Living With Fracking … Who’s in charge?

Gov. Tom Corbett claims that figure is closer to $1.5 million) from the industry. He…

April 21, 2011 at 4:24 pm | Comments (5)

Cawley prevails in crowded Lt. Gov. primary

DOYLESTOWN—Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley emerged victorious from a nine-person primary for Lieutenant Governor Tuesday, in a victory for the state Republican Party that wanted to pair him on a gubernatorial ticket with Tom Corbett.

Returns early in the afternoon showed Cawley locked in a tight race with Chet Beiler, his most vocal critic in the race. But he soon pulled away, and eventually won more than 26 percent of the vote compared to about…

May 19, 2010 at 5:00 am | Comments (4)

Diamond’s latest challenge hits Beiler on 2008 vote totals

Russ Diamond is sure getting comfortable lobbing campaign bombs from behind the wheel of his car. The reform advocate and Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor issued the latest of his campaign video challenges this week, going after primary rival Chet Beiler and his losing performance in the 2008 race for Auditor General.

In the video, Diamond noted that the Republican ticket needs to be able attract votes from Democrats and independents in the fall, and…

May 13, 2010 at 1:37 pm | Comments (3)

Cawley wants ad removed (Updated)

Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley wants a TV ad by one of his Republican rivals for Lieutenant Governor taken down.

A lawyer for Cawley, the party’s endorsed candidate for the office, wrote to former Lancaster GOP chairman Chet Beiler requesting the removal of full story

May 13, 2010 at 11:07 am | Comments (3)

Beiler loans his campaign big money

Republican Chet Beiler has loaned his campaign for Lieutenant Governor almost $400,000 this month, seemingly making him the most viable challenger to endorsed GOP candidate Jim Cawley.

The big-dollar loans emerged in recently-filed state campaign finance data. The former Lancaster GOP chairman kicked in a little more than $200,000 on May 3, the last day of the latest state reporting period. He then loaned his campaign committee another $196,000 on May 7, according to a…

May 12, 2010 at 8:45 am | Comments (8)

Behind the wheel, Diamond hits Metcalfe over pension

Republican Russ Diamond is keeping up his YouTube-driven campaign for Lieutenant Governor, using his latest missive to hit opponent Daryl Metcalfe over the state pension he receives with the rest of his colleagues.

The new clip from Diamond, who founded the reform group PACleanSweep, amounts to a “video challenge” in which Diamond cites a state Constitution stipulation that members of the General Assembly shall receive “salary and mileage” and “no other compensation whatever.”

“So Daryl,”…

May 11, 2010 at 1:04 pm | Comments (7)

Diamond wants letter-writing campaign for Veon sentence

Reform guru and Republican Lieutenant Governor hopeful Russ Diamond wants former state Representative Mike Veon to get a stiff sentence for his conviction in the so-called “Bonsugate” corruption case—and he’s calling for help in making it happen.

Diamond, who founded PACleanSweep in the wake of the infamous 2005 legislative pay raise, asked Tuesday for people to write letters Common Pleas Court Judge Richard A. Lewis to make sure Veon gets the punishment he deserves, citing…

May 4, 2010 at 3:58 pm | Comments (4)

Cawley camp says it’s on the air

Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley is the first candidate to buy TV time in the GOP’s crowded primary for Lieutenant Governor, his campaign said Monday.

The 30-second spot emphasizes that Cawley is the party’s endorsed candidate in the field of nine, and continues the campaign’s efforts to tie him to presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett. The size of the initial ad buy was unclear Monday afternoon; Cawley had relatively little campaign cash at the…

April 26, 2010 at 2:43 pm | Comments (8)

Metcalfe: I ‘blindsided’ the party

State Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) is pretty happy with himself. In a political culture and media environment that makes keeping secrets a tall order, Metcalfe slipped one by political insiders earlier this month, when he surprised all watchers by filing nominating petitions to run for Lieutenant Governor earlier this month.

His candidacy made it a whopping nine Republicans on the ballot for the office, and with unrest in the party’s base palpable, a movement conservative…

March 30, 2010 at 12:03 pm | Comments (9)

Johnson’s the big winner in ballot position

Ballot position doesn’t matter much in high-profile races where voters are deluged with advertising and apt to pay attention.

But in the below-the-radar contest for Lieutenant Governor, being the first name people see in the voting booth could prove a bit more useful. If it does, Republican Steve Johnson will be the beneficiary.

Johnson, a York County businessman, is one of nine Republicans running for Lt. Gov., and when ballot positions were determined by lottery…

March 19, 2010 at 8:28 am | Comments (3)