Pa. Gubernatorial Candidates Make Pitches

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
10 January 2010
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- The 2010 campaign for governor had its unofficial kickoff here yesterday, as four of the five Democratic candidates spoke to members of an agricultural and rural industry group, while the two remaining Republicans spoke to state committee members from the central part of the state.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and state Auditor General Jack Wagner -- both from Pittsburgh -- addressed the Penn Ag Democrats, a 6-year-old group that seeks more state attention and funding for agriculture, the state's leading industry.

Also speaking were Scranton Mayor Christopher Doherty and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel. The fifth candidate, Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, was ill and couldn't attend.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett, of Shaler, who is considered the leading GOP hopeful, spoke to state committee members at the Harrisburg Hilton hotel. His conservative challenger is state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County. The third GOP candidate, U.S. Rep Jim Gerlach, dropped out last week, deciding instead to seek re-election to Congress.

The Democrats stayed away from attacking each other and mainly boasted of their own accomplishments.

Mr. Onorato talked about not raising property taxes in Allegheny County during the last five years, saying he had reclaimed many old brownfield industrial sites and turned them over to new enterprises, such as a new headquarters for Dick's Sporting Goods and Allegheny Ludlum Steel.

Mr.Wagner said he had exposed much waste in government spending by doing hundreds of audits of state agencies and said he had considerable experience in state government, both as a senator and as auditor general.

Mr. Doherty boasted he had turned Scranton around in his nine years as mayor and made it one of the top places to own property, as listed by Money Magazine.

Mr. Hoeffel, the most liberal of the five Democrats -- or "progressive" as he describes it -- came out the strongest in favor of enacting a new wellhead tax on natural gas being pumped from the thousands of acres of Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania. He said the state environmental agency and local towns need revenue to protect ground water and streams from the possible harmful effects of pumping gas out of the ground, which requires thousands of gallons of water.

Mr. Doherty said he was willing to consider such a tax, while Mr. Onorato and Mr. Wagner said they were undecided.

Everyone agreed, as Mr. Onorato said, that the natural gas in the Marcellus shale "is a good opportunity for Pennsylvania for the next 50 years." But he said he didn't want to slap a tax on gas producers as the first order of business. He said the many jobs the industry will produce will increase tax revenues for the state. Gov. Ed Rendell backed off seeking such an extraction tax last year but said he'll push for it this year. He will leave office next January. The May primary will decide which Democratic candidate will run in November.

The two Republicans spoke to reporters outside the room where the Central Caucus of the Republican State Committee conducted its interviews. Mr. Corbett is widely expected to receive the committee's endorsement for the May primary when the panel meets in February.

Mr. Rohrer said he will continue running in the primary, even if he doesn't get the endorsement.

"The endorsement is important but it's not all that critical to our campaign," he said. "We are running a grassroots campaign. The people will decide [in the primary] who will carry the party's banner in the fall."

In yesterday's straw poll by the caucus, Mr. Corbett beat Mr. Rohrer, 88-16. In the caucus poll for the U.S. Senate, Pat Toomey defeated Pat Luksik, 97 votes to 4, and for lieutenant governor, Chet Beiler bested Nick DiFranceso and seven other candidates.

Mr. Rohrer, who said he wants to end school property taxes by replacing them with another source of revenue, is expected to get financial support from wealthy conservative Republicans.

Mr. Corbett is leading so far in fundraising and in the polls but said he's taking nothing for granted. When a reporter jokingly asked him if it's too soon to begin calling him "governor," he replied, "You can call me Tom or call me general, but don't call me governor." He's sometimes called "general" because of his office as attorney general.

Mr. Corbett has also gotten generally good publicity from an ongoing political corruption investigation his office is conducting, called Bonusgate. Seven defendants pleaded guilty last week to some charges lodged against them, while one other defendant was found not guilty at trial. Four other defendants go on trial later this month.
Timothy McNulty contributed. Bureau Chief Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 717-787-4254.