Onorato easily wins gubernatorial primary, setting up showdown with Corbett

PITTSBURGH—Dan Onorato, the Allegheny County Executive who started plotting a path to the Governor’s Mansion years ago, took a big step toward getting there Tuesday, easily winning the Democratic gubernatorial primary in a race he was favored to win from the start.

Onorato bested three primary rivals thanks to a campaign infrastructure he started building long before them and a massive TV blitz that introduced him to Pennsylvania Democrats at a time when the vast…

May 19, 2010 at 6:24 am | Comments (5)

Lunch at the Reading Terminal: An electoral requirement

PHILADELPHIA—If there’s one thing every candidate—Democrat or Republican, up-ballot or down-ballot—can agree on, it’s that stumping at the stories Reading Terminal Market is mandatory political fare in this city.

For seemingly as long as there’s been both politics and a Reading Terminal Market downtown here, candidates have put in last-minute face time with the Philly crowd, the perfect spot to pound a few pre-election day carbs. On Monday it was Democratic gubernatorial candidates Joe Hoeffel…

May 17, 2010 at 4:48 pm | Comments (1)

Poll forecasts Onorato win

Nothing short of a massive exodus of undecided voters to one other candidate will stop Dan Onorato from winning the Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University survey released Monday echoed other recent polls in showing Onorato holding a wide lead over his Democratic rivals. The Allegheny County Executive wins 39 percent of the vote, followed by 11 percent for Anthony Williams, 10 percent for Jack Wagner and…

May 17, 2010 at 9:08 am | Comments (0)

LEFTOVERS: Specter likes Kagan, Schwartz likes Specter, disability advocates like Hoeffel

Arlen Specter seems to be laying the ground work for a vote in favor of Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. The blogosphere got into a tizzy when Kagan was nominated, given the fact that Specter voted against her confirmation as Solicitor General. He quickly noted that those are two different jobs, and now the reports out of his meeting with Kagan on Thursday are all positive. The Associated Press…

May 13, 2010 at 9:11 pm | Comments (27)

Suffolk poll shows Onorato, Sestak with largest leads so far

Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak holds a nine-point lead over incumbent Arlen Specter in Tuesday’s primary, according to a new poll. The survey from Suffolk University also showed Democrat Dan Onorato holding a larger lead over his gubernatorial primary opponents than any other public poll has shown to date.

The survey of 400 likely primary voters showed Sestak topping Specter 49 percent to 40 percent, with 12 percent undecided. It found Onorato garnering 46 percent…

May 13, 2010 at 1:51 pm | Comments (27)

Wagner: Why can’t we all just get along?

With all three of his Democratic primary rivals engaging in one form of contrast advertising or another, gubernatorial hopeful Jack Wagner made clear Wednesday that’s he’s staying positive.

“In the last couple weeks, we have witnessed the beginning of many negative TV ads,” the state auditor general wrote in a campaign e-mail to supporters. “We certainly have issues we disagree on, but the tough issues our country and our commonwealth are facing are far more…

May 12, 2010 at 2:54 pm | Comments (8)

It’s time to get smart on Marcellus Shale

A fiscally-challenged Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which is looking at severe program cuts, tax increases or both over the next few years, is positioned at critical crossroads. At the end of one of these roads is the potential for a new economic day in Pennsylvania, with state revenues increasing dramatically, local economies thriving, thousands of new jobs and a position as one of the leading suppliers of natural gas in the United States.

However, danger lurks…

May 12, 2010 at 12:06 pm | Comments (4)

Two surveys show Onorato up big in guv race

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has opened up at least a 20-point lead over his Democratic rivals for governor a week in the closing days before the primary election, according to two new polls.

The surveys released Wednesday echoed a body of polling data that has showed Onorato pulling away from the pack, and their results differed little from other recent polls. In a Quinnipiac University poll, Onorato garnered 38 percent of the vote, compared…

May 12, 2010 at 9:09 am | Comments (6)

Poll: Onorato still leads, with Wagner and Williams moving up

Just days before the Democratic primary for governor, Dan Onorato remains the clear front-runner in the four-way primary. But Anthony Williams and Jack Wagner have made up enough ground that the race is not yet out of reach, according to a new poll.

The Rasmussen survey released Monday showed Onorato garnering 34 percent of likely voters, about where he has been over the last week. Williams and Wagner both had their best showings of any…

May 10, 2010 at 12:56 pm | Comments (9)

Hoeffel low on campaign cash

In the end, Joe Hoeffel won’t have had much money to work with for the homestretch.

Hoeffel, the Montgomery County Commissioner and Democratic candidate for governor, raised $215,000 between March 30 and May 3. But he also started to spend more heavily after becoming the last candidate in the four-way primary to air TV ads, and two weeks before the May 18 primary, he had only $46,000 in the bank, according to full story

May 9, 2010 at 12:30 pm | Comments (4)