Onorato Holds Lead Heading To Primary

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato says he’s got the best executive track record of the Democrats running for governor.
He gave a Steelton, Dauphin County crowd a second reason to support him, during a Friday campaign stop.

"There’s only one of us running out of the six who has nothing to do with Harrisburg, and that’s me. I’m an outsider. Every one of those candidates running for governor are part of the problem."

One of Onorato’s opponents, State Senator Anthony Williams of Philadelphia, may have gotten a boost from Governor Rendell in the days leading up to the primary.
Rendell says he’s remaining neutral, but he heaped praise on Williams at a Philadelphia press conference, calling the senator “visionary” and “innovative.”

"He has earned the support of people in Philadelphia, and throughout the entire southeast. And for that matter, throughout the state. Because of the innovative campaign where he’s really talked about issues and change."

According to the final Quinnipiac poll released today, Onorato remains far ahead of the field for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with 39 percent, more than his three major competitors combined, although 31 percent of voters remains undecided.
Among the likely voters surveyed, Williams received 11% support, Jack Wagner 10% and Joe Hoeffel 9%.

Interview With Candidate Anthony Williams

There are four Democrats and 2 Republicans seeking their parties’ respective nominations in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary May 18th.
This week we are featuring one on one interviews with each of the candidates.
Anthony Hardy Williams is a former member of the State House of Representatives. Williams, from Philadelphia, was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in 1998 and is serving his third, 4-year term. He was the last Democrat to enter the race and one of his key issues is school choice.
He spoke with DUQ’s Scott Detrow.
Listen to the interview.

Negative Ads Increasing In Dem Gubernatorial Primary

As polls show Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato moving away from the pack, his opponents in the Democratic gubernatorial primary are sharpening their attacks against the frontrunner. The latest Muhlenberg College tracking poll gives Onorato a 21-point lead over his closest challenger, Joe Hoeffel, who registered just 11 percent support.
Anthony Williams and Jack Wagner are in single digits.
The other three candidates have begun attacking Onorato by saying he’s overstating his track record in Allegheny County.
This week saw the first round of negative ads in the Democratic primary.
Tony Williams criticized Onorato for inflating his economic record, and Joe Hoeffel began airing a commercial charging the county executive with “flip flopping” on abortion.
Jack Wagner joined in the chorus during a Harrisburg event.

"I know what’s going on in Allegheny County. And if you look at Allegheny County from January 04 to March ’10, there are 6,100 less jobs. They are the facts. And they should be reported accurately."
Onorato has argued the county’s unemployment rate has stayed below the state average.

Wagner also pointed out Onorato has overseen tax increases, including a controversial drink levy.
The latest Muhlenberg College tracking poll gives Onorato a 21-point lead over his closest challenger. Poll director Chris Borick says the other three Democrats are trying to bring Onorato back to the pack – though he notes that will be tough to do, with less than two weeks to go before the primary.

"And I think the ads that, in particular, Williams has put out, and where he’s targeting those, are aimed directly at bringing Onorato’s numbers down. At the same time they hope their numbers will increase as election day approaches."

Borick says Onorato’s support is soft – but he’s still built up a substantial lead.

Onorato Widens Lead, Specter Margin Shrinking

Two weeks before the Pennsylvania Primary, a new Quinnipiac University poll was released today amid heavy TV advertising.
The survey of likely primary voters shows that Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato is widening his lead in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. In the four-way race, Onorato received 36% support....up from 20% a month ago. Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel received 9% and Auditor General Jack Wagner and State Senator Anthony Williams 8% apiece. 37% of those surveyed are still undecided.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, says in the Senate Democratic Primary, 5-term incumbent Arlen Specter leads Congressman Joe Sestak 47% to 39%. A month ago, Specter led 53% to 32%.
"The Senate race is closing and could be headed for a close finish."

Brown says the narrowing of the Specter/Sestak race is confirmed by other factors.
The narrowing of the Specter/Sestak race is confirmed by other measures as well:

* Democrats trust Specter more than Sestak to do what he says he will do 42 - 31 percent, compared to 43 - 26 percent April 7;
* Voters give Specter a 57 - 31 percent favorability, compared to 60 - 26 percent;
* Sestak gets a 43 - 11percent favorability, compared to 33 - 6 percent.

However, Democrats say 60 - 23 percent that Specter is more likely to win in November.

Gun Control Group Grades Candidates

Officials with the advocacy group CeaseFirePA say they're pleased with the Democratic gubernatorial candidates' support for gun control measures.
Joe Grace, the executive director of CeaseFirePA, says all four Democratic candidates supported a majority of the 18 reform issues they were asked about in the questionnaire.

"Two candidates are from western Pennsylvania, where it's particularly said that you can 't ever talk about gun violence prevention. And they are Jack Wagner and Dan Onorato. Both of those candidates support a majority of reforms proposed by CeasefirePA."

Those reforms include increasing penalties for the illegal possession of a handgun, requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms, and banning assault weapons.

The group graded the candidates on their support for gun issues.
Joe Hoeffel received an A, and Anthony Williams was given an A-.
Dan Onorato got a B+, while Jack Wagner received a C+.
Republican Tom Corbett was given an F, since he didn't fill out the survey. President Phil Goldsmith says he's disappointed Corbett didn't respond to the questionnaire.

"And frankly, I think it's inexcusable that here, the state chief law enforcement officer - obviously a leading candidate for governor, basically was not willing to share his views with the people."

Corbett's GOP rival, Sam Rohrer, didn't do much better, in CeasefirePA's minds - he disagrees with them on every issue, and was given a D.

Dem Governor Hopefuls Debate

For the first time in this election cycle, the Democratic candidates for governor directly challenged each other on the issues during a televised debate.
During every forum and debate so far, the candidates have focused on themselves, and avoided criticizing their opponents' policies and positions.
That changed during a debate hosted by League of Women voters and WITF-TV in Harrisburg.
State Senator Anthony Williams and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel had several exchanges, including a back-and-forth on whether Hoeffel would pledge to bar campaign contributors from winning state contracts or serving in his administration.

"No one who supported my campaign will be on a board. And they're not supporting me to get business. Nobody does that. So in your county, there are people who have gotten benefits by Joe Hoeffel arriving. And they knock on your door and say, hey Joe I want you to support me in this process. And they do."

"...And how would you know that, Tony? You're just making stuff up. We've got a competitive process in Montgomery County that I want to take to the state level."

Hoeffel says he supports competitive bidding, but called Williams' across-the-board ban on giving posts to donors "crazy."
The two also tangled on school vouchers.
Williams is a strong supporter of subsidizing poorer and middle class children's private educations with state money, but Hoeffel says that would undermine public schools.

The forum featured several unscripted moments like when the candidates were asked to name a mistake they had learned from.
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato couldn't think of one.

"After six years of governing as an executive, if I had the luxury of hindsight, and could go back and change some things, knowing how they ended up, there's probably a handful of things I would change. But overall, in sort of... I mean I really don't--I don't have any regrets on it. I can't think of one at this point in time."

Joe Hoeffel said he regretted voting for President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law when he was in Congress.

Auditor General Jack Wagner said he wishes he could go back and amend some of the bills he voted on while in the state Senate, specifically mentioning legislation sending state resources to cyber and charter schools.

Anthony Williams says he'd like to go back and put more accountability benchmarks into school funding legislation he supported.

1 in 2 Don't Know Gubernatorial Candidates

Just more than a month before the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Pennsylvania voters still don't know who's running.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll surveys likely voters. That's a change from previous polls, which talked to registered voters.
Polling Director Peter Brown says this is a more accurate picture of who will show up to vote on May 18th.

Brown says Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato leads with 20 percent,Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel has 15%, Auditor General Jack Wagner 13% and State Senator Anthony Williams received 5%. but Brown says it's still a wide-open race.

"Half the voters don't know who they're for, and of those who are for somebody, 70 percent say they may change their mind. That's pretty much not plugged in. Again, primaries tend to have lower turnouts than general elections, and this is one that has not yet caught the public's imagination."

Brown says he expects voters to tune in over the next six weeks, when television ads start blanketing the airwaves.
Right now Onorato is the only candidate airing spots. Senator Anthony Williams will start advertising next week.

Among likely Republican voters in the gubernatorial primary, Attorney General Tom Corbett leads State Representative Sam Rohrer 58% to 7% with 35% undecided.

Six Gubernatorial Candidates Talk Reform

By and large, all six candidates for governor spoke from the same page last night during a Harrisburg forum focused on reform issues.
The four Democrats and two Republicans agreed on issues ranging from instituting campaign finance reform to eliminating legislative pay when budgets aren’t passed by the June 30th deadline.
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato wants to see a merit selection system for statewide judges.

"I would support keeping county trial judges elected, but I think it’s time we look at appellate courts – Superior, Commonwealth, Supreme -- we look at merit selection. Because most people don’t know who the candidates are. And now with the influence of corporate dollars coming into the process, I think it’s time we look at it."

Republican Tom Corbett and Democrats Jack Wagner and Joe Hoeffel agreed with Onorato’s take.
Democrat Anthony Williams wants to see merit selection at the local level, as well.
Republican Sam Rohrer says he wants to stick to an election system, but he’d like judges to be able to freely discuss issues.
"That’s the problem, I think, that people have when we go to the polls. We don’t really know who the judges are, because we’re not able to find out what they believe, and how they’d pursue certain issues. Let them speak more freely."

Right now, judicial candidates aren’t allowed to give their specific opinion on matters that could come before their bench.
The four Democrats and two Republicans all supported letting independent voters participate in primaries.
Williams went a step further than his opponents, calling for a lower voting age.

"At 16 you’re able to work, you pay taxes. Guess what – everybody who sits up here, talks about the next generation paying all the debt that we’re acquiring. You should have the right to tell us 1) what kind of debt you’re responsible once you reach that age of maturity we define."

Republican Tom Corbett disagreed, saying voters need to reach an “age of maturity” before they cast ballots.
Auditor General Wagner says he supports same-day voter registration.

"It’s archaic in Pennsylvania to think that you have to register a month before the process, or you don’t qualify. You’re a citizen, you pay taxes, you participate in the Democratic process. You should be able to register right up to the day of the election."

Right now, new voters need to register about a month before the election.
Joe Hoeffel says the state needs to change its redistricting process.

"We have outrageous gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. I was a victim of it in 2000. Come on! It’s totally political, it’s wrong. We need districts for state House and state Senate and Congress that respect communities of interest, that are compact and are contiguous."

The gubernatorial primary is May 18.

Williams Ramping Up Campaign

The last candidate to enter the Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial campaign is moving fast to make up for lost ground.
Philadelphia Senator Anthony Williams has some unorthodox education policies for a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
He supports school choice, and says he won’t commit to continuing Governor Rendell’s support for the “costing out” formula, which has steadily increased the state’s basic education spending.

"The cost-out study never spoke to choice. It never spoke to getting people out of bad schools. All it speaks to is spending more money. And that’s not the answer. There’s more to just spending more money to solve these problems. There has to be some level of measurable accountability academically and safety-wise."

Williams says he isn’t worried his support for school voucher programs will hurt him with liberal voters. He’s planning on talking a lot about the stance when campaigning, saying school choice helps empower poor families to make their own decisions about where their children go to school.
Williams says endorsements by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans make him a more viable candidate.

"It doesn’t guarantee, obviously, every vote in Philadelphia. But it gives you a good chance at driving out a significant number. It also affects – Michael Nutter’s reputation goes well beyond Philadelphia, and I think it’s going to help me with people beyond Philadelphia County. And it begins to drive progress toward the west.


When Williams made his late entry into the Democratic gubernatorial primary, political observers wondered whether he was simply trying to increase his state-wide influence, or impact other candidates’ platforms.