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Rob McCord
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Democrats pick McCord to run for Pa. treasurer
Rob McCord, a Montgomery County venture capitalist, easily defeated three opponents yesterday to become the Democratic nominee for state treasurer.
Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabiani@phillynews.com.
Thanks to name recognition built up through a massive TV ad campaign, McCord held off his closest rival, John Cordisco, the Bucks County Democratic Party chairman.
State Rep. Jennifer Mann of Allentown finished third, while Dennis Morrison-Wesley of Harrisburg, a former investment salesman, trailed the field, according to unofficial statewide results.
In the fall, McCord will face Tom Ellis of Elkins Park, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
"Especially in these economically challenging times, people wanted someone with significant financial experience and they saw I had that experience," McCord, a 49-year-old Bryn Mawr resident, said late last night.
With by far the largest war chest of the candidates, McCord was able to blanket most of the state in commercials in recent weeks in this otherwise below-the-radar contest.
McCord had raised $3.5 million in the primary, about $2.5 million of which went for ads.
In early returns, McCord appeared to capture impressive margins in his home county of Montgomery, as well as Chester and Delaware Counties. He also out-balloted Cordisco nearly 2-1 in Allegheny County, where McCord spent a lot of time campaigning.
Cordisco, a lawyer and former House member, easily won his home turf of Bucks and held a slight advantage in Philadelphia as votes were still being tallied.
The treasurer serves as Pennsylvania's chief financial officer, making decisions on where to invest billions in tax revenue, and has influence over investing hundreds of billions more as a member of the state's two largest public pension funds.
If not for the Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary, which captured all the attention, the treasurer's race would have been the marquee statewide matchup.
A graduate of Harvard and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, McCord cofounded and has served as managing director of Pennsylvania Early Stage Partners, a family of venture funds that invests in technology companies, and cofounded the Eastern Technology Fund, a provider of funding for more than 800 businesses. The fund is an investor in Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., owner of The Inquirer and Daily News. Brian P. Tierney, Inquirer publisher and Philadelphia Media chief executive, is on the fund's advisory board.
During the campaign, Cordisco accused McCord of an inherent conflict of interest, given that much of his contributions came from money managers and investment bankers that do business with the treasurer's office.
McCord dismissed those concerns by saying he would remove himself from any dealings involving people who gave him money or worked closely with him in the past.
The winner of the McCord-Ellis race will replace Robin L. Wiessmann, who is filling the unexpired term of Robert P. Casey Jr. He left the Treasurer's Office after winning a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabiani@phillynews.com.
