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In The News: Other Pa. contests compete with Dems' presidential primary (Associated Press 4/21/2008)

April 21, 2008
The Associated Press & Local Wire
Other Pa. contests compete with Dems' presidential primary
By Peter Jackson, Associated Press writer

Behind the dazzling marquee of the state's Democratic presidential primary, Pennsylvania voters will decide nominations for dozens of other elective offices from state treasurer to the Legislature to Congress in Tuesday's balloting.

The drawn-out battle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois spurred a voter-registration surge that pushed Democratic Party enrollment to a record 4.2 million, spawned TV advertising that injected millions of dollars into the state's economy and took the candidates into virtually every corner of the state.

"I don't know whether people are really paying attention to the treasurer's race," lamented John Cordisco, a Bucks County lawyer and one of the four candidates for the Democratic nomination for that office.

The other contenders for the nomination the only statewide contest on the ballot besides the presidential primary are retired venture capitalist Rob McCord of Bryn Mawr, state Rep. Jennifer Mann of Allentown and former investment counselor Dennis Morrison-Wesley of Harrisburg.

McCord, 49, a newcomer to elective politics, has raised by far the most money, including $1 million he loaned to his campaign, and has advertised heavily on TV and in newspapers. As of April 7, his campaign had more than $2 million on hand.

"I got into this race knowing that no party insider would lift me into the office," McCord said, making an implicit jab at Cordisco, whose insider credentials include six years in the state House of Representatives in the 1980s and the chairmanship of the Bucks County Democratic Committee since 2002.

Cordisco, 53, whose campaign went up on TV on Thursday, had about $307,000 on hand in early April and debts totaling $260,000. He has criticized McCord's reliance on fellow venture capitalists to finance his campaign and says he has put more than 11,000 miles on his donated campaign car since January.

Mann, 38, is a fifth-term legislator whose campaign war chest at the beginning of the month was about $22,000, She said she has concentrated on Democratic strongholds in southwestern Pennsylvania, whose industrial heritage is similar to that in the Lehigh Valley.

"There is no candidate at all from the west" in the race, she said.

Morrison-Wesley, 58, born and raised in Philadelphia, spent a decade working as an investment adviser in several firms and is currently a Comcast salesman. He said he hopes his stands against abortion rights and gun control will win votes.

"When you don't have money, you've got to be unorthodox," said Morrison-Wesley, whose campaign reported having $43 on hand as of April 7.

None of Pennsylvania's 19 members of the U.S. House of Representatives faces a primary challenge this year, but a couple of the primary contests stand out.

Republican Rep. John Peterson's decision to retire in the sprawling 5th Congressional District has spawned a nine-way contest for the GOP nomination to succeed him. The winner will presumably be the front-runner this fall in the heavily Republican district in north-central Pennsylvania. Three candidates are seeking the Democratic nod.

One of the highest-spending candidates on the Republican side, financial planner Derek Walker, was charged just five days before the primary with burglary, criminal trespass and other counts stemming from an incident involving his ex-girlfriend last year. He denied any wrongdoing, and said the charges were politically motivated.

In the 10th District in the state's northeastern corner, two businessmen are competing for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Chris Carney in November. Carney, a freshman, won the seat in 2006 by defeating a longtime Republican incumbent embroiled in a sex scandal.

In Harrisburg, 26 members of the state House of Representatives face primary challenges 17 Democrats and nine Republicans. Of the 19 state senators who are seeking additional terms, none has any intraparty opposition.

Credible primary challenges have been mounted against at least three Democratic incumbents from Philadelphia: Reps. Tony Payton Jr., William F. Keller and Harold James. Payton's challenger Guy Lewis has the backing of many in the party establishment; Keller is running against Christian DiCicco, a well-funded protege of Sen. Vince Fumo; and James faces community organizer Kenyatta Johnson.

In the state's opposite corner, two-term Rep. Kathy Rapp's re-election effort has left two of the region's most powerful Republicans on opposite sides. Rapp, R-Warren, has the backing of U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., while her primary opponent Kerry L. Gern has the endorsement of Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

And in Lebanon County, Rep. Mauree Gingrich survived a challenge to her nominating petitions that went to the state Supreme Court. But the man who took her to court, Republican challenger Russ Diamond, has continually raised allegations of electoral fraud in their three-way primary race. Diamond is founder of the anti-incumbency group PACleanSweep; the other candidate is Bruce Kreider.

Six senators are retiring this year, including Fumo, a master of Harrisburg politics who bowed out of the race as he prepares for trial on federal corruption charges. Three Democrats are competing for the nomination to fill his seat.

Associated Press writers Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg and Kimberly Hefling in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_8993296

In The News: Treasurer candidates differ on financial-background issue (Patriot News 4/17/2008)

April 17, 2008
The Patriot News
Treasurer candidates differ on financial-background issue
By Jan Murphy of The Patriot News

Pennsylvanians have not regarded financial expertise as a prerequisite for a person they elect to serve as state treasurer in at least the past 25 years.

Instead, they have entrusted this office to a state legislator, an urban planner, a nurse and an attorney during that time.

But this year, financial knowledge that candidates possess is at issue. Four candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for the $141,565-a-year post.

Candidates Dennis Morrison-Wesley of Harrisburg and Rob McCord of Montgomery County consider financial knowledge vital to the job. Both have financial backgrounds.

The other two Democrats -- Jennifer Mann of Lehigh County and John Cordisco of Bucks County -- cite their wealth of experiences as better, including state government service. Both have been state legislators.

Whoever wins the Democratic nod Tuesday will face Republican Tom Ellis of Montgomery County in the fall. He is uncontested for the GOP nomination.

State Treasurer Robin Wiessmann, who was appointed in 2006 to serve out the unexpired term of Bob Casey Jr. following his election to the U.S. Senate, is not seeking re-election.

The treasurer is charged with leading an office that serves as the custodian and investor of state money.

The treasurer also holds a seat on the boards of the state's two public pension systems, which oversee more than $100 billion in retirement funds for active and retired state and school employees.

Morrison-Wesley, an account executive and financial adviser who is a registered investment adviser, said he thinks financial knowledge is so important that the law should require the treasurer to be a certified public accountant or registered investment adviser.

That way, if a bad decision gets made, he said, "You can't say you didn't know. Or you can't blame it on bureaucrats, who would totally run the show."

McCord said he regards a financial background as important.

"We clearly have had huge changes in the financial markets," said McCord, a financial executive who worked on budget and regulatory issues in Washington, D.C., for Democratic senators.

"This is no time to play politics with the Treasury office because we have immense challenges in both the equity markets and bond markets ... and there is a lot of important work to be done to be sure the pension funds are adequately cared for."

But Cordisco, a lawyer, former legislator and CEO of two small companies, suggests a treasurer performs a multitude of tasks that do not solely require financial expertise.

"I don't see it as a necessity," he said. "It may possess certain advantages to the office itself if you should have that broad base of experience."

Managing a department with about 520 employees and $60 million budget requires CEO experience, he said.

A legal background comes in handy in approving sole-source contracts and bonds, according to Cordisco.

Mann, a state representative in the Lehigh Valley, is seeking the party's nomination for her House seat in addition to the state Treasurer's office. She said if nominated, she would serve in only one office. She said she is the candidate with the most relevant experience for the treasurer's office.

"Knowledge of how state government works, how state budgets work, how they come to be, that's the most important experience and what I can offer taxpayers," she said.

She said her travels have taught her there's distrust about Wall Street types among Pennsylvanians.

"Government should be focused on helping people, and certainly Wall Street has been taking care of itself and left lots of people hurting along the way," Mann said.

JAN MURPHY: 232-0668 or jmurphy@patriot-news.com

INFOBOX:

TONIGHT'S DEBATE The four Democratic candidates for state treasurer are expected to participate in a forum at Harrisburg Area Community College at 7 tonight. The forum will be aired live on PCN and replayed at 10 p.m.

Source: http://www.patriot-news.com/

In The News: PA. Treasury Primary Race Is Mostly Low Profile (Inquirer 4/11/08)

April 11, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PA. Treasury Primary Race Is Mostly Low Profile
By Mario F. Cattabiani and Joseph N. DiStefano; Inquirer Staff Writers

With Pennsylvania's presidential primary capturing all the attention, it might be easy for Democratic voters to overlook a four-way race for the party's nod to be the next state treasurer

It's an obscure job, but one with great responsibility that includes investing billions in tax dollars.

Seven out of 10 people say they have no idea whom they will vote for in that contest April 22, a recent statewide poll shows.

As the field tries to grab voter attention, one candidate from Philadelphia's suburbs is taking shots at another in this otherwise below-the-radar race.

Many consider Rob McCord, by virtue of a huge $4 million campaign chest, the favorite in the race. He is the only candidate to air TV ads so far.

McCord, of Bryn Mawr, believes his background as a venture capitalist who embraces government gives him a head start at the job, which includes managing several billion dollars in state tax and special-purpose funds.

"There's a shortage of people who know finance, who are willing to do this job today," said McCord, a 49-year-old Harvard and Wharton graduate. "The job combines finance and politics with the opportunity to provide substantial public service."

McCord says he would use the treasurer post as a "bully pulpit" to push antipoverty and pro-business programs, and to challenge questionable spending by state agencies.

In the race, there's a lot at stake - and not only for taxpayers: Pennsylvania's two biggest state pension funds, which the treasurer helps to oversee, paid more than $600 million in fees to money managers last year, including $2.3 million to three McCord-run funds.

After his early work as a Democratic speechwriter, McCord joined Safeguard Scientifics of Wayne, a holding company that invests in technology and life-sciences firms, just as it was trying to create a suburban Philadelphia version of Silicon Valley in the early 1990s.

At Safeguard and after leaving the company in 1997, McCord helped persuade Pennsylvania officials to invest with a series of private funds he helped manage, and to support his Eastern Technology Council, a sort of Chamber of Commerce for Philadelphia-area tech companies.

Much of McCord's campaign donations have come from money managers who are themselves state investment contractors.

Another candidate, John Cordisco, a lawyer from Bristol Township and the Bucks County Democratic Party chairman, has been on the attack. He insists that McCord, if elected, would face an inherent conflict of interest: balancing what's good for his longtime allies in the money-management business against what's best for taxpayers.

McCord dismisses the accusation, saying he would recuse himself from any decisions involving managers who have given him money or worked closely with him in the past.

(McCord was a founder of the Eastern Technology Fund, which 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, serves on the fund's advisory board.)

Besides criticizing McCord, Cordisco, 53, has vowed not to take contributions from money managers or investment bankers. He said he made that decision early "so that the public clearly understands where my interests lie - with their interests."

Cordisco, who said he views the job as a protector of the public funds, is running on a platform to bring more transparency to the Treasurer's Office, opening records to ensure the public knows where tax dollars are being invested and why. He wants the pension funds to start making public the list of the companies state private-equity managers invest in.

He also believes the treasury should be more involved in luring companies to the state by offering treasury-backed incentive packages.

Cordisco was elected to the Bristol Borough School Board at the age of 22. Three years later, he won a state House seat, defeating a longtime incumbent for the first of three terms. While serving in Harrisburg, Cordisco, a former steelworker, earned a law degree from Temple.

One of the other candidates is Jennifer Mann, 38, of Allentown. She has served 10 years in the state House representing Lehigh County, during which she earned a reputation as a pro-business Democrat and a rising star in the party.

She views the treasurer as the state's chief financial officer and said her Harrisburg experience made her well-suited for the role.

"A private-sector company wouldn't hire a CFO with no experience in the industry," she said.

If elected, she said, her first duty will be a top-down review of staffing and computer needs to cut cost and maximize efficiencies.

She said she also hopes to expand the treasury's program that offers loans for Pennsylvanians to make energy-efficient improvements on their homes. And she would renew a program instituted under previous treasurers to offer below-market-rate mortgages to some first-time homebuyers.

The fourth candidate, Dennis Morrison-Wesley, is a former investment salesman for Merrill Lynch and MetLife who now works as a Comcast salesman in Lebanon, Pa. He describes himself as a fiscal conservative.

Morrison-Wesley, 58, said that he supported using the treasurer's powers to withdraw state investments from companies doing business in global trouble spots such as Iran and Sudan's Darfur region, and that he would pull state deposits from banks that move operations out of Pennsylvania.

He has previously waged unsuccessful campaigns for Congress (as a Democrat) and for Philadelphia mayor (as an independent).

"I'm running this thing on a shoestring," he said. "But I've been running for treasurer for three years. My base is in Western Pennsylvania. It's looking good."

The highest vote-getter April 22 will face Tom Ellis, the only Republican in the race, in the November general election.

The winner will replace Robin L. Wiessmann, who is filling the unexpired term of Robert P. Casey Jr., who left the Treasurer's Office after winning a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Candidates for their party's nod for the two other state-wide row offices - auditor general and attorney general - are unopposed.

The Treasurer's Office has an annual operating budget of $60 million and employs 520 workers.

Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabiani@phillynews.com.

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/17539344.html

In The News: Democratic Committee splits on state treasurer (The Morning Call 1/13/08)

Democratic Committee splits on state treasurer
January 13, 2008
The Morning Call

Pennsylvania's Democratic State Committee is staying neutral in the nomination contest for state treasurer.

John Cordisco of New Hope, Bucks County Democratic Committee chairman and a former state legislator, and Montgomery County venture capitalist Rob McCord competed for the committee's endorsement at a Lancaster hotel Saturday.

McCord of Bryn Mawr, a political newcomer with a fiery speaking style, got 191 votes and Cordisco got 123 votes, both short of the 212 votes that constituted the required two-thirds majority.

The state committee did endorse state Auditor General Jack Wagner, a former state legislator from Pittsburgh who is unopposed in the primary in his bid for a second term, and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, who is unopposed for nomination for attorney general.

At least three other declared or prospective candidates also are eyeing the open treasurer's seat, but did not seek the party's endorsement.Still considering campaigns are Jennifer Mann of Allentown, a fifth-term state representative from Lehigh County, and Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein.

Starting Jan. 22, candidates for the three statewide row offices will have three weeks to gather the signatures they need to qualify for the April 22 primary election ballot -- a minimum of 1,000 apiece, including 100 from each of at least five counties.

In The News: Wagner, Morganelli endorsed at Dem State Committee. McCord shows strength (Capitolwire 1/12/08)

Wagner, Morganelli endorsed at Dem State Committee. McCord shows strength.
By Peter L. DeCoursey
Bureau Chief
Capitolwire

LANCASTER (Jan. 12) – Democrats will apparently have one contested statewide primary election in 2008, as Auditor General Jack Wagner and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli faced no opponents for the Democratic State Committee’s endorsements today.

Both were unanimously endorsed by the party committee members by voice vote here at the Lancaster Host Resort, a site which has hosted President George W. Bush more often than it has state or national Democrats.

Party chairman T.J. Rooney touted his party’s slate of candidates and predicted that the party would hold its gains from 2006 – when Democrats took over Congress and the Pennsylvania House and defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum– and add to them The party committee members made no endorsement in the open seat election for state treasurer, because no candidate received two-thirds of the committee member’s votes. But Rob McCord, the former congressional aide turned financial investment advisor, racked up almost 60 percent of the vote of party regulars. He ran ahead of John Cordisco, a former state lawmaker and current Bucks County Democratic Committee chairman.

McCord, Cordisco and Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh, courted party support Friday night, but Mann did not seek the party endorsement, saying she thought the party should not endorse in the primary.

McCord led Cordisco 191 votes to 123 votes, with five abstentions. McCord fell just 23 votes short of the two-thirds needed to win the endorsement. The Philadelphia delegation split 24-24, preventing an endorsement that would have occurred if just 12 Philadelphia Cordisco voters switched to McCord, party insiders said.

Cordisco accused McCord, who has set a new state record for fund-raising by a candidate for a row office at this stage of the campaign, of trying to win with promises of campaign cash for counties.

“It was a shock and awe campaign and it wasn’t successful,” Cordisco said. “He didn’t get the endorsement so we won.”

But some neutral Democrats noted Cordisco arrived at this winter state party meeting predicting he would win the party nod outright.

McCord laughed at Cordisco's comments, then said: “It’s a huge win, to win 60-40 on my opponents’ home turf. … We are ahead of him in endorsements, with labor, in the southwest, in Allegheny County, in fund-raising and with the party. I don’t understand why he isn’t seeing that.”

Cordisco said that while insiders might prefer McCord’s fund-raising skills, “I have grassroots support ... and voters in our party are going to be reluctant to have somebody as our nominee who is a Wall Street insider.”

Cordisco also used that term to describe Tom Ellis, who appears now to have the edge towards winning the Republican endorsement for treasurer. Bob Casey Jr., who won the treasury in 2004, left to win a U.S. Senate seat in 2006. His appointed replacement, Robin Wiessman, agreed not to run this year if she was confirmed by the GOP-majority state Senate as Casey’s replacement.

Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, who finished second in the 2007 mayor’s race in that city, said he is not running for treasurer now, but he has been asked to do so, and has not finally ruled out the possibility.

Wagner, who has already won endorsements from usually-GOP business groups including Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, and is considered likely to win, according to Republican strategists.

Republicans have yet to coalesce around a candidate for auditor general.

Morganelli also faces an uphill fight, according to Democratic power broker David L. Cohen, a close ally and advisor of Gov. Ed Rendell, although Rendell ranks Morganelli's chances for that office higher than Cohen does.

Morganelli lost the last two Democratic primaries for attorney general, but with weeks remaining before the deadline for nominating petitions, was unopposed today for his party’s endorsement to challenge Attorney General Tom Corbett this fall.

Jim Eisenhower, the Democratic nominee in 2000 and 2004, chose not to run, as did former assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Casey, brother of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

Gov. Ed Rendell also publicly supported Morganelli, falling short of endorsing him, but saying that a sitting district attorney, like Morganelli, had the best chance to become the first elected Democratic attorney general in Pennsylvania.

Morganelli also drew attention by criticizing Corbett for not delegating the Bonusgate legislative staff bonus probe to an independent counsel, so Corbett wouldn't have to probe fellow Republicans, allies or contributors.

Morganelli also called upon Corbett to act against a conservative group which aired TV ads during the fall Supreme Court elections. Shortly after Morganelli challenged Corbett to intervene to ban the ads from state airwaves, Corbett joined in when the state Election Bureau did so, asking state courts to ban the ads. That effort failed.

Morganelli also had to apologize for what he said were fake attack e-mails, which attacked him and other candidates, but actually were sent by what he called an “over-zealous” staffer. The e-mail account used to send them was listed on various websites as belonging to Morganelli’s son.

Morganelli renewed his call for Corbett to appoint a Bonusgate special prosecutor and said: “Believe me, if there is any wrongdoing in Harrisburg related to the [staff] bonus situation, it is in all parties. … The people being paraded before the grand jury are only Democrats, the people being charged are only Democrats, he has subpoenaed only Democrats, “ and the leaked information, Morganelli claimed, involves “only Democrats.

The leaks referred to were e-mails that House Democrats went to court to prevent Corbett from reading, but that legal effort failed. The e-mails, from 2004, contained comments by staffers that appeared to explicitly link increases in staff bonuses .

As happened in the past, efforts by party insiders to get either Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala or Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham to run for attorney general, failed, due to lack of interest from either prominent prosecutor.