In a message on his Web site, Schenker said that “my employment and economic circumstances have changed drastically causing me to look for employment all over the country.”

“If my future employment allows me to stay in Pennsylvania,” Schenker said, “I will continue to support the most viable efforts to challenge corruption in Harrisburg, and I will do everything possible to help elect a Governor that will make reform a top priority.”

Though about a dozen candidates are still running, Republican Party insiders increasingly see Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley, Chester County Commissioner Carol Aichele and political operative Joe Watkins as the leading GOP contenders to partner on a ticket with presumptive gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett. Aichele suffered a setback this week when party leaders in the southeast endorsed Cawley’s candidacy over hers, but her campaign has continued to court insider support ahead of the Republican State Committee meeting next month. Grassroots conservatives, meanwhile, are increasingly voicing displeasure at the thought of either Cawely or Aichele on a ticket with Corbett, preferring Watkins as an alternative candidate.

Enjoy!

On why he’s running:

“I looked at the Lt. Gov. position as one of two things—a public relations position for somebody who is looking to enhance their political future, or, from my perspective, a position of media influence to attract the general public’s attention for addressing problems that stem from corruption in government. That’s why I’m interested, not building my career.”

On what “challenging corruption” means:

Schenker wants lawmakers to be required to report family earning in their entirety, including those from spouses. He wants to change ethics enforcement, overhaul he says is needed to “clip the horns of the state legislature.” He also advocates term limits and reducing the size and cost of the General Assembly, which he acknowledges “makes legislators very uncomfortable.”

On being Lt. Gov:

“The only limitations lieutenant governors have are the ones they place on themselves.”

On his campaign:

Schenker said he’s still considering if and how to move forward, and thus hasn’t started fundraising, which he’ll need to do in a crowded GOP primary field.

“If you want a Lt. Gov. that will wave their hands at a parade,” he said, “pick another candidate.”

He considers himself the “rebel” in the field.

In a brief interview with pa2010.com, Schenker, the former Erie County Executive, said he wanted to be Lt. Gov. and push important policy issues onto the public agenda. But he said he was under no illusions that a race against someone like Meehan would be futile.

“As much as I love politics and enjoy getting into something that I think I can win, I’m also pragmatic enough to realize that if [Attorney General Tom] Corbett and Meehan got together on a ticket like that, it would be so incredibly strong that I would probably be wasting my time,” Schenker said. “There’s no sense in doing that to my family if I don’t stand any chance of winning.”

Meehan has not expressed any interest in playing second fiddle to Corbett, and his campaign has insisted he is focused only on beating Corbett in next year’s gubernatorial primary. But many Republicans, eager to recapture the Governor’s Mansion after 8 years, have been pressuring him to explore other options, including runs for Congress or Lt. Gov.

Schenker, for his part, said his stance was rooted less in a desire for a Republican unity than in the realization that he simply couldn’t beat Meehan.

“I believe [Republicans will win the governorship] no matter who’s on the ticket,” he said.

But at this still-early stage, the Republicans are mostly alone in the field. Only one Democrat has said he is likely to run, and while others have been mentioned as viable, a deluge of Democratic candidates in to the race seems unlikely anytime soon.

So why are Democrats lukewarm to the contest? Many analysts and political insiders think it’s because after 8 years holding the Governor’s Mansion, Democrats are counting on voters to stick to their longtime habit of kicking the incumbent party out of office. Being second-fiddle on a winning ticket can be a career boost—sometimes—but a losing running mate risks a future of political obscurity. For now, Republicans are clearly more confident that they can ride the coattails of their party’s nominee to Harrisburg.

“The Democrats don’t think they can win and don’t want to be part of a losing ticket,” state Republican Party chairman Rob Gleason told pa2010.com in an interview. “This also shows we have some great talent out there of people who see themselves as viable governors down the road.”

Republican political consultant Charlie Gerow added: “It’s indicative of the fact that Republicans think they can win next year.”

In an interview, Abe Amoros, the state Democratic Party’s spokesman and political director, acknowledged the dearth of Democrats in the race, but said it wasn’t unusual so early in the election cycle.

“We’ll definitely have more than a few names that we’ll be hearing about in the fall,” he said.

The one Democrat almost certain to run for the position is Jonathan Saidel, a former City Controller in Philadelphia. Former state Treasurer Robin Wiessmann is also rumored to be thinking about a run. “I certainly have left it open to consideration,” she said recently.

The contrast with the Republican field is striking. Montgomery County Commissioners Jim Matthews and Bruce Castor are both interested in the job. Ditto Frank Rizzo Jr., a Philadelphia City Councilman and son of the city’s former mayor. Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, a darling of anti-immigration conservatives, it increasingly talked about. So is state Representative Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), who led the caucus’ campaign committee last year in avoiding the cascade of lost seats many were expecting in a Democratic year (the party lost only two seats). York County businessman Steve Johnson has already declared his intention to run. So has former Erie County Executive Rick Schenker .

Throw in names like former Congresswoman Melissa Hart; state Senate Majority Whip Jane Orie (R-Allegheny); state Senator John Pippy (R-Allegheny); state Senator Rob Wonderling (R-Bucks); state Representative Karen Beyers (R-Lehigh); Chester County Commissioner Carol Aichele and Dauphin County Commissioner Nick DiFrancesco, and the race for Lt. Gov. is shaping up as a crowded one.

“I guess we have a gazillion folks out there,” said Lowman Henry, head of the Lincoln Institute, a conservative think tank in Harrisburg.

Running for Lieutenant Governor is a politically quirky proposition. A victory usually depends on support from the likely top-ticket nominee, and most gubernatorial candidates look for someone who brings geographic to the balance to the ticket. That means the folks from the southeast will likely root for Attorney General Tom Corbett, who hails from Pittsburgh. The candidates from Corbett’s turf will hinge their hopes on southeast Pennsylvania’s Pat Meehan.

“There’s all kind of idiosyncratic things that go into why they win,” Franklin & Marshall pollster G. Terry Madonna said.