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Doherty: State Senate a ‘unique’ opportunity
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty formally dropped out of the race for governor Thursday morning, saying that a run for the state Senate seat being vacated by Minority Leader Bob Mellow was a way for him to work on the same policy issues he had hoped to tackle as the state’s executive.
“Having grown up here in Scranton as one of 11 kids and now raising six kids of my own, I’ve long been committed to making this the best possible place for raising a family,” Doherty said in remarks prepared delivery at the construction site of a new medical school in the city. “Running for governor gave me an opportunity to meet people from all over the state who share that same goal. I appreciated the support and interest we received everywhere we went. Unfortunately, in this day and age, running for statewide office means spending most of the day raising money. I’d rather be working on the challenges facing Northeast Pennsylvania.”
His withdrawal had been expected for days, after Mellow’s recent decision not to seek reelection ignited a flurry of speculation that Doherty’s seemingly lagging gubernatorial campaign made a run at Harrisburg more viable. After a couple days of news reports leading up to the announcement, Doherty had already e-mailed his supporters late Wednesday night. He was set to kick-off an effort to get on the ballot for state Senate Thursday evening.
Doherty’s exit leaves three officially declared candidates in the Democratic primary, with a fourth moving toward a run but still unannounced. Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Auditor General Jack Wagner and Montgomery County Commissioner are all running, while state state Senator Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) is reportedly circulating nominating petitions both for governor and for reelection.
“Running for the state senate is a unique opportunity to continue the work I started when I was first elected mayor while continuing to make sure our community has the strongest possible representation in Harrisburg,” Doherty said.
February 18, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Tags: Chris Doherty
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Karl Jacobson
Feb 19th, 2010
Good Move, now bring on those chicken wings!
Abraham
Feb 19th, 2010
Douchebag with matching family members. He should be indicted for raping Scranton’s coffers. How about resigning from the ghost office you were (sic) elected to you cretin…
Pete
Feb 19th, 2010
Doherty’s by far the best candidate for this seat. I hope he wins.
phillip
Feb 19th, 2010
Best candidate!For dog catcher!He is done in Scranton,the sooner the better!
concernedcitizen
Feb 20th, 2010
Doherty is and will be a lame duck! He didn’t stand a chance as governor, they didn’t want him. The union employees in Scranton will vote for him for senate, just to get rid of him. His cronies won’t, they don’t want to leave the gravy train. Doherty is so full of himself, that he believes he can make it in the race for senate. He should focus on his job. What office will he persue on our dime when he gets blasted out of this race? His claims of creating 6000 jobs is a lie. He did create a few positions for his supporters in Scranton, however Evans is going to help him out with that situation. Chris, DO YOUR JOB, forget about your pipe dreams. Your support does not extend as far as you think. The Times can only do so much for you and you can only buy a limited number of votes. Get back to the position, we as taxpayers, your being paid to do.
Brian
Feb 24th, 2010
Doherty is doing anything he can to get out of the job he just ran for and was elected to, Mayor. He now has a city council that will not rubber stamp everything he sends down the pipe and he wants out. You see being accountable is not one of his strong suits. I would love to see him actually govern.