Conklin and Saidel locked in too-close-to-call Lt. Gov. race

PHILADELPHIA—It wasn’t quite the race they were expecting.

Supporters of former Philadelphia City Controller Jonathan Saidel came to the Warwick Hotel here Tuesday thinking a victory party was a sure thing. Saidel was the endorsed party candidate, enjoyed a huge financial advantage and the support of labor organizations far and wide.

But things weren’t that simple.

By the end of the night, Saidel and state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre) were locked in a surprisingly close…

May 19, 2010 at 6:36 am | Comments (6)

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)

The top 5 campaign Web sites

In its most basic form, a campaign Web site is little more than a bare-bones, online biography of a political candidate and a description of his or her stances on the issues. Such rudimentary creations do little to inspire in this digital world of contemporary politics.

But at its best, a campaign Web site is so much more. It is a gateway into a candidate’s political persona, a gathering place for supporters, a strategic hub…

May 17, 2010 at 6:20 pm | Comments (7)

Diamond endorses Rohrer for guv

It’s usually a given that candidates for Lieutenant Governor will do whatever they can to suck up to their party’s likely top-ticket gubernatorial nominee. But reform advocate Russ Diamond is taking another tack: he’s with underdog Sam Rohrer.

Diamond, one of nine Republicans running for Lt. Gov., endorsed the conservative state Representative over front-runner Tom Corbett in a statement on Thursday.

“Sam Rohrer is one of the most sincere, principled individuals I’ve ever met,” Diamond…

May 13, 2010 at 5:16 pm | Comments (2)

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)

LEFTOVERS: New ads from Corbett, Kennedy, Kelly & Bucchianeri

So many ads, so few days left before the May 18 primary.

One of the new spots came from Republican gubernatorial front-runner Tom Corbett. It’s a softer look at the state attorney general, in which he chats with folks at a barbershop. “In my very first week as governor,” Corbett says in the ad, “I’m going to send a reform plan to Harrisburg legislators, and believe me, some of them aren’t going to like it.”…

May 12, 2010 at 11:28 pm | Comments (0)

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)

House colleagues back Conklin for Lt. Gov.

Jonathan Saidel has the vast majority of the party support in the coming primary, but state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre) is making a last-minute show of strength in his bid to pull an upset against Saidel.

Conklin recently rolled out endorsements from 17 state representatives, including Thomas Caltagirone, Eugene DePasquale, Bill Kortz and Tim Mahoney.

“I am honored by the number of my colleagues that believe as I do that government needs to be reformed,”…

May 11, 2010 at 2:05 pm | Comments (15)

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)