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 Joe Hoeffel

It's the last several days for candidates in the Pennsylvania Primary to make their case to the voters. There are four Democrats and 2 Republicans seeking their parties’ respective nominations in the gubernatorial primary May 18th.
This week we are featuring one-on-one interviews with each of the candidates.
Joe Hoeffel is a former Pennsylvania State Representative and served 3 terms as a U.S Congressman. He is currently a Montgomery County Commissioner.
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.

Hoeffel Says Lawsuit is Political

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Hoeffel is attacking Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett for using an anti-health care lawsuit to score political points.
Hoeffel, a Montgomery County Commissioner who’s positioning himself as the most liberal candidate in the governor’s race, says Corbett’s lawsuit is nothing more than political posturing.

"He’s always struck me as a moderate Republican, and I think he’s desperately afraid of not satisfying the tea-bagging tea partiers. He looks at Sam Rohrer, who’s very sincere in his conservative views, and sees a threat."

Hoeffel thinks the legal challenge will fail....."The courts have repeatedly upheld the commerce clause, which gives Congress to regulate commerce in the state. And they’ve repeatedly upheld the right of the national government to tax American citizens."

However, the 13 attorneys general, who are filing suit, say it's unconstitutional to require Americans to buy anything including health insurance.

Hoeffel criticized the Corbett campaign for using the lawsuit as the basis for a fundraising mailer.
The letter says, “Tom is working to stop the federal government from threatening individual liberties by imposing this mandate…”
It asks for donations of 100, 50 or 25 dollars.
Corbett’s campaign manager, Brian Nutt, defends both the mailing and the lawsuit.
Nutt says Hoeffel, and not Corbett, is the one making a partisan political attack.

"I haven’t seen anywhere where Mr. Hoeffel has challenged Tim Holden, Congressman Tim Holden, or Congressman Jason Altmire, who voted against this bill. But I suppose he hasn’t done that because they’re Democrats and that doesn’t fit his MO of going after a Republican."

Nominating Petitions Challenged

Candidates in several Pennsylvania primary elections are trying to throw their opponents off the ballot, through legal petition challenges.
Candidates need to meet minimum petition thresholds to appear on the primary ballot– a state House candidate needs 300 signatures, someone running for Congress requires a thousand, and for governor you need at least 2,000 with a minimum of 100 apiece in at least 10 counties.
If anyone thinks rival campaigns’ forms are filled with invalid signatures, they can appeal to Commonwealth Court, which will then scrutinize the filings.
Franklin and Marshall College political scientist Terry Madonna says there’s a certain strategy behind the challenges.

"You would file a petition challenge a) if you think the person has insufficient petitions based on inability to follow the state’s election code, if you think participation by that person on the ballot is likely to hurt your candidacy. On the other hand, if there’s a candidate on the ballot that you think hurts your opponent, you’re not going to go after their petitions and try to knock them off the ballot."

Chet Harhut, commissioner for the Department of State’s Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation, says bureua makes sure forms are filled out correctly, and that the number of signatures meet the minimum requirements – but it doesn’t verify all the petitions’ names.

"It’s more of a resource thing, in that it would be virtually impossible to have 14-hundred people come through our door, which we had last week, and have to go through every signature. We leave that to the people that really scrutinize the stuff, and to look further into it. We take it at face value."

Persons acting on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato filed a complaint in Commonwealth Court challenging the petitions of fellow Democrat Joe Hoeffel.
Congressional candidates Pat Meehan and incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper are facing challenges, as are several people running against sitting state lawmakers.
In all, close to 90 challenges have been filed.

Non-Profits and the Budget

Four candidates for governor of Pennsylvania are split on whether or not the state should refund nonprofits who took out loans during last year’s 101-day budget impasse.
The gubernatorial hopefuls made their comments at a forum sponsored by the United Way.
When state funding to nonprofits and counties dried up last summer, many organizations took out large loans to pay their bills.
Democrats Dan Onorato and Joe Hoeffel say the state should fund those groups’ interest payments, but Auditor General Jack Wagner is more hesitant.

"Should we recoup those counties? Sure. If we could, yes. I’m not sure the state presently is in a fiscal condition to do that. Based on the serious financial challenges facing us, now, in the next budget."

Hoeffel says he’d stop all payments, if the state entered the new fiscal year without a spending plan.

"I won’t sign a temporary budget. I’ve seen this wreck the budget process in Harrisburg and in Washington. They don’t pass budgets on time in Washington. They sign—pass continuing resolutions, temporary budgets here. There have been seven straight late budgets. So no budget July 1, nobody gets paid."

Onorato criticized Governor Rendell for withholding funding from nonprofits during the 101-day budget impasse.

"And that’s what happened here. Because a lot of the other programs were funded. There was temporary budgets. There were payments being made to employees in other departments. And yet you have this department of human service bearing the political burden of this debate."

Republican Sam Rohrer says Pennsylvania government is running out of money, and may soon find itself in the same dire financial straits as California and other distressed states. Rohrer said the federal stimulus package did more harm than good.

"Because there’s two and a half billion dollars in this budget that will run out this year, that has to be made up. That’s the rub of where it goes from here. What should have done last year – spending reductions of about ten percent should have taken effect, and we’d be sitting here with a balanced budget."

All four candidates vowed to pass budgets by the July 1 deadline, if elected.
Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Anthony Williams were both invited to the forum, but didn’t attend.

Dems Don't Endorse Candidate For Governor

Auditor General Jack Wagner won twice as many votes as any other gubernatorial candidate when Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party cast ballots for an official endorsement this weekend.
Although that wasn’t enough to win the party’s nod, Wagner is claiming victory.
A candidate needed two-thirds of the votes to win the Democratic Party’s endorsement, and Wagner didn’t claim that total.
But Wagner’s 153 votes from party officials was twice as much as Dan Onorato, who came in second with 76 tallies.
Wagner says it’s a moral victory.

"When you get the most votes in two ballots and it’s more than the majority, that tells me – and it’s spread out across Pennsylvania, that’s a signal that real people, common people, are supporting my candidacy. And that’s powerful."

Onorato says he’s not concerned ...
"You can’t look at who got what. You’ve got to look at, did they endorse here today? They didn’t. the state committee said leave it open. No one got the endorsement. It’s wide open, and now the most important vote is primary day."


Philadelphia Senator Anthony Williams, who’s mulling a run and didn’t initially plan on entering the endorsement balloting, came in third with 48 votes. Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel was eliminated in the first round of voting, and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty wasn’t nominated.

Dem Gubernatorial Candidates Debate

The four Democratic candidates for governor of Pennsylvania debated for the first time last night in Harrisburg. Three of them--Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel said they would veto state legislation to outlaw abortions in Pennsylvania if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. State Auditor General Jack Wagner said he would improve services for children and pregnant women.
Onorato and Wagner said they support legislation to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, but only Hoeffel and Doherty said they are willing to sign a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
Hoeffel is proposing replacing the state's flat-rate income tax with a graduated rate. Onorato says that would require a constitutional amendment and he prefers passage of an earned-income tax credit that would allow lower-income families to keep more of their income.
The candidates debate again...tomorrow afternoon from 1 to 3 in Pittsburgh...at the Wightman School Community Building in Squirrel Hill.

Joe Hoeffel Kicks Off Campaign

Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Joe Hoeffel officially kicked off his campaign with a three-city, cross-state tour with a stop in Pittsburgh this morning.
City Councilman Bill Peduto stood next to Hoeffeland and said he's endorsing the Montgomery County Commissioner because he believes Hoeffel has the ideas that will improve Pennsylvania's economy.
Hoeffel says Pennsylvania need a governor who will challenge the legislature in Harrisburg to improve our state’s economy.
He says if elected governor, he plans to address the discrimination problem: discrimination against poor children, the uninsured, poor communities, and gays.
Hoeffel says the three main issues in this race are creating jobs, improving public schools and expanding health care.
He says he was glad that Philadelphia millionaire Tom Knox withdrew from the race because that eliminated the possibility of someone with no political background “buying the election.” Knox endorsed Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and called on Hoeffel, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty and Auditor General Jack Wagner to do the same.
Despite trailing Onorato slightly in recent polls, Hoeffel says at this time, all Democratic candidates are tied and it’s a wide-open race. A Quinnipiac survey indicated 59% of voters were undecided.