Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

W. Pa. guv hopeful in big-city hello

Dem bigwigs back Dan Onorato as he kicks off campaign here

For a western Pennsylvania Democrat coming to Philly to start a campaign for governor, Dan Onorato showed some local clout yesterday.

In the first stop of a statewide swing to officially launch his campaign, the Allegheny County executive was accompanied at a City Hall news conference by several local union officials, prominent fundraisers and a handful of Democratic ward leaders.

Onorato's message was reminiscent of Gov. Rendell's pitch eight years ago that he'd rescued his city's finances and restored its spirit in two terms as mayor.

Onorato said that he'd turned Pittsburgh and Allegheny County around by reforming the government and holding the line on property taxes.

"We had to downsize the payroll because we were out of money . . . we streamlined government," Onorato said. "I took on the status quo . . . we consolidated offices, we consolidated departments."

Onorato is a Pittsburgh native who served as a Pittsburgh city councilman and Allegheny County controller before being elected county executive in 2004. He is 48.

With more than $4 million in campaign funds and a modest lead in the polls, Onorato enters a crowded Democratic primary field with an early but not decisive advantage over his rivals.

"No candidate stands out now as a prohibitive favorite," said Franklin & Marshall College political analyst Terry Madonna. "Onorato is the choice of many party insiders, and Gov. Rendell has said nice things about him, but there's a long way to go."

Onorato said that it was no accident that he chose Philadelphia to begin his race.

"This is the biggest TV market, and I wanted to say hello to a lot of my friends in Southeastern PA.," Onorato said.

Saying that he wanted to clarify a position that has been distorted by his rivals, Onorato said that he personally opposes abortion but would not act to change the state's abortion laws, even if the Legislature voted to impose new restrictions.

Four other Democrats are poised to battle with Onorato in the May 18 party primary:

* State Auditor General Jack Wagner, 61, is a former Allegheny County state senator who will compete with Onorato for his western Pennsylvania base.

Wagner has run statewide three times - twice for auditor general and once for lieutenant governor, but, like the other Democratic candidates, he's little known to a majority of the electorate.

He has socially conservative views on abortion and gun control.

* Businessman Tom Knox, 66, is the only candidate in the race who's never been elected to public office, though he served as a deputy mayor to Rendell in the early 1990s. Knox spent more than $11 million of his own fortune in an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Philadelphia in 2007. A spokesman said that he's prepared to spend up to $20 million on a gubernatorial primary. He'll run as an outsider who knows how to get things done.

* Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, 51, is a recent addition to the race, who, like Onorato, will run on a record of urban renewal. Doherty became mayor in 2001 when Scranton was a fiscal mess.

It's now financially stable, and more prosperous. Doherty is pro-choice.

* Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, 59, jumped into the contest last month. Hoeffel, a former congressman who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, said that he believes that many Democrats will find the rest of the field too conservative.

"I consider myself a pragmatic progressive," Hoeffel said.

He brings some name recognition in the vote-rich Philadelphia suburbs, where he will contend with Knox for attention.

So far, two candidates have emerged for the Republican gubernatorial nomination - state Attorney General Tom Corbett and suburban Philadelphia U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach.