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)

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)

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)

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)

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)