Libertarian candidates off the ballot

The Libertarian Party’s slate of statewide candidates has officially been sent packing.

The party’s candidates for senate, governor and lieutenant governor all ended their bids to stay on the ballot Wednesday, succumbing to another candidate for governor, the latest exits mean there will be…

August 19, 2010 at 9:01 am | Comments (15)

Libertarian, Green Party candidates file for senate, guv (Updated)

A pair of third-party candidates filed signatures to get on the ballot for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania Monday, adding a dose of underdog intrigue to the race between Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey.

Douglas Jamison, an engineer, filed enough signatures to run on the Libertarian Party ticket. On

August 2, 2010 at 4:22 pm | Comments (6)

LEFTOVERS: Chamber hits Sestak, Stupak aids Dahlkemper, labor endorsements

We already mentioned the new full story

July 13, 2010 at 10:41 pm | Comments (1)

LEFTOVERS: Williams’ next move, Saidel’s new gig, toss-up in the 11th

Democrat Anthony Williams didn’t make much public noise after finishing third in the gubernatorial primary last month, and he even passed on a chance to endorse Dan Onorato on primary night. But he was set to break that silence in a big way Thursday night, with plans for a two-hour event to “announce next steps” at the National Constitution Center. And even before the curtain came up on that number, Dave Davies at WHYY told…

June 24, 2010 at 9:59 pm | Comments (3)

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)

Saidel concedes, will request no recount

Just hours after signaling that

May 26, 2010 at 4:08 pm | Comments (19)

Recount seems likely in Lt. Gov. race

It’s been more than a week since primary voters went to the polls—but it looks like Democrats will have to wait a little longer to know who won their nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

The Pennsylvania Department of State said Tuesday that returns from counties across the state had been submitted and tallied, and the most recent count still shows state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre) holding a slim lead over former Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Saidel.…

May 26, 2010 at 10:04 am | Comments (3)

LEFTOVERS: Critz sworn in, Steele says GOP will win, the Saidel robo-call

Democrat Mark Critz is now a congressman. The longtime John Murtha aide officially stepped into his late boss’ shoes on Thursday, being pMeanwhile, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says Critz shouldn’t get too comfortable. Despite the fact that his party took a beating in the special election, Steele says wealthy businessman Tim Burns will prevail in his November rematch against Critz. Steele blamed the fact that Democrats had higher turnout because of their competitive statewide primaries. “In November, we’ll get that seat back because, guess what, independent conservatives get to play then and that will be a very different race,” Steele Sunday during “This Week” on emABC /em(see video below)./p
pAnd lastly, there’s one thing that sat in the empa2010.com Central /eminbox for far too long: the mysterious robo-call that targeted Jonathan Saidel in the hours before he suffered what looks like a devastating loss in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor. Saidel may still get a recount against state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre), and most of the blame for how things turned out has to fall on his campaign. But one factor, however small, may have been the robo-call. Phones in Philadelphia received the robo-call, in which a woman who says she’s backing Doris Smith-Ribner in the race asks if “Saidel is running for controller or for grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.”/p
pThat’s a reference to a brief controversy from the early 1990s, when Saidel said he opposed school busing plans to send children to “parts of the city that look like East Beirut.” Shortly after, then-City Councilman Michael Nutter said he thought Saidel was “running for city controller, not grand wizard.” It remains unclear who put out the robo-call, and Smith-Ribner has said she had nothing to do with it. But the Saidel campaign wasn’t happy./p
p“To suggest that Jonathan Saidel, of Jewish heritage and a champion of civil rights for his whole career, has anything to do with the KKK is disgusting,” campaign spokesman Marty Marks a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/Saidel_Slammed_In_Campaign_Robocall_Linking_Him_To_KKK.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.philly.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fcityhall%2FSaidel_Slammed_In_Campaign_Robocall_Linking_Him_To_KKK.html','told+The+Daily+News')" target="_blank"told emThe Daily News/em/a. “It’s politics at its worst.”/p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/LtGov_robocall.mp3" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F05%2FLtGov_robocall.mp3','Listen+to+partial+audio+of+the+call+here.')" target="_blank">Listen to partial audio of the call here.

May 23, 2010 at 5:03 pm | Comments (11)

Conklin: Imminent victory ‘proves that your vote really does matter’

Scott Conklin was on the verge of an incredible upset win in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday, holding onto a lead that was just large enough to avoid the need for an automatic recount.

Conklin, a state Representative from Centre County, was widely seen as the underdog against former Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Saidel, who had exponentially more campaign cash, as well as overwhelming support from party and labor leaders. But as…

May 19, 2010 at 7:50 pm | Comments (22)

With some Philly votes still out there, Saidel hopes for recount

It’s come to this: Jonathan Saidel might need a recount.

The former Philadelphia City Controller was stunned in his campaign for Lieutenant Governor Tuesday, when night stretched into morning with state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre) holding onto a narrow lead.

Early Wednesday afternoon, there were votes still to be counted in some Philadelphia precincts where Saidel’s campaign hoped to perform well, but it faced a steep uphill climb, trailing by almost 5,000 votes. Conklin led…

May 19, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Comments (3)