Since I'm officially registered as a democrat in Pennsylvania, I get the dubious honor of voting in the May 18 Democratic primary for Governor.
The Candidates:
1. Dan Onorato. Our very own chief executive is running for governor. Love him or hate him, he is a controversial fellow. Recently, Chris Potter has reported some highly questionable behavior in Dan's courting of both the pro-life and pro-choice constituents. Dan has accumulated a sizable war chest, so expect to see lots of him on TV in the near future.
2. Joe Hoeffel. Montgomery County Commissioner. Progressive. Joe has really reached out to everyone in the state during this race. I had the opportunity to meet him in Pittsburgh last Fall before I even knew who he was.
3. Jack Wagner. State Auditor General. This is a local boy from Beechview who's gone on to have a long career in state politics including stints as Pittsburgh Council president and State Senator.
4. Anthony "Tony" Williams. A State Senator. This businessman grew up in urban Philadelphia and turned to politics to save his community.
The Issues
In fact, it seems like the candidates agree on most issues. They all want to fight corruption in Harrisburg. During a debate last month, they were cordial and found little to disagree on. Today, in honor of Earth Day, the candidates released a joint statement agreeing on taxing the Marcellus Shale natural gas, renewing Rendell's green programs, and enforcing clean-air regulations.
Honestly, I'd like these candidates to try to differentiate themselves more from each other. At this point, it seems like a popularity contest. According to a recent poll, Dan Onorato has the lead with 20%, but Joe Hoeffel and Jack Wagner are not far behind with 15% and 13% respectively. However, there are still a whopping 47% undecided.
Personally, I'm leaning towards Joe Hoeffel. His outreach campaign has impressed me, and he isn't afraid to speak strongly and clearly about his socially progressive leanings from health care to his pro-choice stance to the environment.
If you're registered as a Democrat, don't forget to vote on May 18.
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5 comments:
Is Tom Corbett considered part of that corruption?
Tom Corbett is considered a Republican. Part of that corruption? LOL.
Tom is busy wasting Pennsylvanians money of a lawsuit against Health Care Reform that no one except the Republicans who see it as a fund raising gimmick believe it has any merit.
Among the Democrats, I'm pretty certain Joe Hoeffel has distinguished himself in terms of his posture towards natural gas energy drilling -- desiring both more careful regulation and taxation. I'm sort of afraid the Shale is going to BLOW UP as a political issue JUST AFTER the gubernatorial election, and I'd rather have someone who gets that "jobs now" aren't everything and we don't need to sell our stock cheaply.
I doubt I will vote for any of the candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania for the simple reason
none of them addresses the budget deficit in a substantive way.
There are no new ideas presented by any of the candidates that will close the 3 billion dollar gap.
They all seem to ignore the two major problems that account for the largest parts of the wasteful spending in state government, the over funded prison system and illegal alien.
The state spends nearly as much on prisons as it does on schools, and illegal aliens in Pennsylvania
cost Pennsylvanians nearly one third of the budget deficit, over 800 million dollars!
I can not afford another property tax increase. I am tired of my tax dollars going into expensive programs that support people that are here illegally, or support people who break the law.
I doubt I will vote for any of the candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania for the simple reason
none of them addresses the budget deficit in a substantive way.
There are no new ideas presented by any of the candidates that will close the 3 billion dollar gap.
They all seem to ignore the two major problems that account for the largest parts of the wasteful spending in state government, the over funded prison system and illegal alien.
The state spends nearly as much on prisons as it does on schools, and illegal aliens in Pennsylvania
cost Pennsylvanians nearly one third of the budget deficit, over 800 million dollars!
I can not afford another property tax increase. I am tired of my tax dollars going into expensive programs that support people that are here illegally, or support people who break the law.
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