Poll: Guv race mostly unchanged

Less than three months before the primary, the political landscape in the race for governor remains mostly the same as voters wait to learn more about the candidate, according to a new poll.

The Franklin & Marshall College survey released Wednesday showed Attorney General Tom Corbett with a comfortable lead over state Representative Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) in the GOP primary, while the Democratic contest is still wide open. Corbett leads Rohrer 26 percent to four…

February 24, 2010 at 10:27 am | Comments (6)

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…

February 18, 2010 at 3:00 pm | Comments (6)

Doherty dropping out of guv race in favor of state Senate run

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty on Wednesday confirmed widespread speculation that he will opt out of his run for governor and seek the state Senate seat being vacated by Bob Mellow instead.

Doherty, a Democrat, told The Times-Tribune that Mellow’s decision not to seek reelection leaves “a major void.”

“The issues in the Senate race are the same as for governor,” he said.

Doherty’s gubernatorial campaign has been lagging for weeks, starting…

February 17, 2010 at 5:15 pm | Comments (14)

LEFTOVERS: Sestak in Pittsburgh, Specter in San Fran, Doherty’s decision, guv endorsements

Democrat Joe Sestak’s Senate campaign officially opened its new Pittsburgh office Tuesday—and it yielded the kind of back-and-forth you don’t normally get from some mundane office opening.

First, let’s not forget to note that having more boots on the ground in western Pennsylvania is an important step for the campaign.

“With this new office, we can work to ensure that the needs and desires of Western Pennsylvania will not fall on the deaf ears of…

February 16, 2010 at 11:19 pm | Comments (36)

Doherty for state Senate?

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty is reportedly being urged by Democrats to abandon his gubernatorial race and run instead for the state Senate seat being vacated by Minority Leader Bob Mellow.

The Inquirer, citing an anonymous campaign aide, reports that Doherty is “is listening to what they have to say.”

Almost immediately after Mellow announced Tuesday that he won’t seek reelection, speculation was rampant that running for his seat would be a…

February 9, 2010 at 11:30 pm | Comments (21)

Who won, who lost and who broke even at DemFest

With Democratic State Committee votes counted and endorsements given—or not given—it’s time to score where the candidates are with just 14 weeks until primary day.

WINNERS

Arlen Specter: Winning his party’s formal endorsement only nine months after he left the GOP was a big victory for the incumbent senator. He now has the organizational backing of the entire state party behind him, not to mention overwhelming support at the local level…

February 7, 2010 at 4:56 pm | Comments (12)

Wagner wins majority of party votes, but no endorsement

LANCASTER—Auditor General Jack Wagner demonstrated the depth of his party support here Saturday, winning a majority of Democratic State Committee votes and more than twice the number of his chief gubernatorial rival, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato. But Wagner failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for an endorsement, yielding an open primary in which the state party as a whole will not back a candidate in the five-way race.

Still, it was a striking…

February 6, 2010 at 3:56 pm | Comments (13)

A low-key afternoon for Hoeffel, Doherty (Updated)

LANCASTER—Joe Hoeffel was out of sight by the time he was knocked off the first ballot. Chris Doherty had already left, and didn’t even bother with the vote.

After the Democratic State Committee met here Saturday to vote on endorsing a candidate for governor, it was Hoeffel and Doherty who clearly seemed to have come out on bottom. Despite being in the race for months, Hoeffel was knocked off the first…

February 6, 2010 at 3:36 pm | Comments (11)

A snowy Lancaster rumor mill

LANCASTER—The Senate candidates tussled. The gubernatorial candidates laid down familiar talking points. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to party with her fellow Democrats. All of it happened as mounds of snow were piling up outside, leaving Democratic insiders who hadn’t booked a room at the Lancaster Host Resort here wondering if they could safely leave for the night and still make it back for Saturday’s important business.

Yes, it was a hectic evening at the…

February 6, 2010 at 3:00 am | Comments (3)

Videos from the gubernatorial debate

In the excitement of debates and forums, we forgot to post videos from last weekend’s Democratic gubernatorial debate in Harrisburg.

We got a handful of clips. Embedded above is a brief video of Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel discussing his position on abortion rights. More clips can be found on the pa2010.com YouTube Channel.

Click here to see Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato discuss manufacturing and industrial…

February 2, 2010 at 8:30 am | Comments (0)