Onorato Falls Short

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato took defeat well last night. He thanked his supporters, congratulated the next governor and then told the crowd to have some fun at his election night party. When they tried to boo Tom Corbett’s name he stopped them and said, “that is why we have elections.” He says it was important to set the right tone, “I wanted to give a concession speech to show that nobody in this room has a reason to hang their head low. We fought a two year battle, we had some good ideas and we came up just a bit short.” Onorato says Republican effort to tie him to PA Governor Ed Rendell was not the reason why he lost. “I’ve never believed that any other elected official can get you elected or hurt you,” says Onorato, “people vote on the candidates… and this is the way it played out this time, I have no regrets at all.” However, Onorato says he wishes he could have done better in Allegheny County where he lost to Corbett by 649 votes. He says he thinks it was hard to overcome the number of ads run by the Corbett campaign in Allegheny County near the end of the race.

Onorato says he will now turn his full attention to running the county. He says he will use the next year to grow jobs and streamline government. He would not speculate on a bid for a third term in office.

The Democrat says it was the “opportunity of a lifetime” to run for governor. He says he saw the state in a way he would have never been able to had he not run. “I met great people, I got to see how beautiful the state is, I got to see how diverse the state is and I got to see what made the state so great,” says Onorato. He says he is ready to work with Tom Corbett to help make the state even better.