Rendell allies look west for 2010 heir

Some of Gov. Rendell's top Philadelphia-area fund-raisers are backing a Western Pennsylvanian for governor in 2010, hoping to avoid a protracted battle for the Democratic nomination.

While the governor has remained neutral, allies as close as David L. Cohen, once Rendell's mayoral chief of staff, will host a reception today for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato.

Though Onorato is little-known in Southeastern Pennsylvania, state political figures credit him with a fiscal turnaround in his county, and he is seen as the best hope for keeping a Democrat in the governor's office when Rendell leaves office.

As many as 50 Rendell money people are expected at a reception for Onorato in the executive dining room at Citizens Bank Park. Onorato, 46, is coy about whether he will run, but the event is an early boost to any potential campaign for governor.

Along with Cohen, Mark Aronchick, Alan Kessler and Ken Jarin, all prominent Rendell financial backers, are hosts for the event.

"A lot of us are saying that if Dan is stepping up, we should get behind him in force to make a statement," Aronchick said. "When you survey who are the next stars of the Democratic Party, it's clear that he . . . is the person who is the best heir to the Rendell legacy."

In a state known for parochial politics, power brokers rarely boost a candidate from another region. Supporters, however, consider Onorato a pragmatic executive in the Rendell mold.

To fans, Onorato's turnaround in Allegheny County calls to mind Rendell's early-1990s magic in Philadelphia.

When Onorato entered office in 2004, the county had a $31 million deficit. He cut 500 jobs and pushed through a ballot initiative that eliminated six of 10 row offices, consolidating their functions in the executive's office. He also has had some economic-development success, attracting investment that has added jobs.

A former county controller and Pittsburgh city councilman, Onorato won a second term Nov. 6 without opposition in the primary or general election. His campaign account contained $1.83 million as of late October.

If Democratic leaders coalesce around Onorato early, other potential candidates could be undercut - including his onetime Allegheny County rival, State Auditor Jack Wagner. Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, a former member of Rendell's cabinet, has been making the rounds at county party dinners, and state Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow of Lackawanna County also is laying the groundwork.

With his deep Rendell ties, Cunningham could draw some support among the governor's money raisers. A former mayor of Bethlehem, he was one of the first public officials to endorse Rendell in the 2002 primary.

Today's event for Onorato is "not anything formal," Kessler said. "He has been meeting people here off and on for the last four years, strengthening relationships."

With those relationships and an unassailable base in the Pittsburgh media market, Onorato offers the best hope to "avoid the internecine warfare you get in primaries," Aronchick said. Too much bloodshed would weaken the party's chances to hold on to the governor's office, he said.

In 2010, Democrats will struggle against a pattern that has held since 1970, the first time a governor who could run for a second term was elected. Every eight years, the two parties have traded places.

"If Onorato's got the governor's financial backers and inherits the political operation as well, that's going to be a tremendous obstacle to anyone else," Democratic strategist David Dunphy said. "Rendell's fund-raising machine is without precedent in Pennsylvania."

Rendell raised $30 million for last year's reelection campaign.

Among the potential Republican candidates for governor are Attorney General Tom Corbett, U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton III, and Patrick Toomey, a former U.S. representative from Lehigh Valley who leads the national antitax group Club for Growth.

Onorato insisted he was thinking only about his second term as county executive at the moment, and pointed out that he'd had fund-raisers in Philadelphia before, even if this crowd is especially high-powered.

"I'm very grateful for their help. It's good to have good relations on both sides of the state," Onorato said. "Whatever happens in the future, we'll talk about down the road. It's three years off, an eternity in this business."