***SCARNATI SLAMS SHOGAN IN NEW LETTER, PRAISES ORIE MELVIN (PDF)***
***SCARNATI SLAMS SHOGAN IN NEW LETTER, PRAISES ORIE MELVIN (PDF)***
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Um, how did the Lt. Gov. seal end up on this letter? i see it was not "printed at taxpayer expense" yet there had to be some taxpayer expense involved. Someone on paid government staff had to transport official letterhead to campaign workers, who reproduced the letter for mass distribution. Moreover, people cannot do political things under the banner and aegis of their official publicly held office. This is just plain wrong. And to do it in the middle of the bonus-gate investigation is unbelievable!!
Scarnaughty needs a political/legal beatdown.
I noticed that and wondered the same thing.
And a primary fight is not a bad thing. I wish the party would just stay out of it and then back the winner in the general.
And the envelope that it arrived in does NOT say "Not printed at tax payers expense," just Joe Scarnati, Lieutenant Governor. I wonder who paid for it.
Orie is a proven statewide vote-getter?????
2003 Municipal Election
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Official Returns — Justice of the Supreme Court – Elect ONE (1)
BAER, MAX (DEM)
1,284,846 51.9%
MELVIN, JOAN ORIE (REP)
1,192,952 48.1%
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - — – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –
2007 Municipal Election
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Official Returns
Judge of the Superior Court — Electing THREE (3)
DONOHUE, CHRISTINE (DEM)
1,100,362 19.4%
SHOGAN, JACKIE (REP)
974,748 17.2%
ALLEN, CHERYL LYNN (REP)
970,081 17.1%
FOLINO, RON (DEM)
929,552 16.4%
YOUNGE, JOHN (DEM)
852,537 15.1%
BRATTON, BRUCE F. (REP)
834,445 14.7%
On another note, if you remember the State Committee Meeting Gleason said (and I have it on tape) that he is for open records and transparency. Gleason then said records have always been open, which was a lie. He then said even though the vote went closed records, because the state committee people have not back bone to allow constituents know how they voted, he would release the records, which again he refuses. I have a tape of the meeting from PCN which lawyer Lawrence states, if you want the results, get them from tv. I have the meeting which was aired on PCN. It's convenient that the roll call vote was completely cut out. I agree with Ray, and the party should have stayed out of it.
Gleason then said records have always been open…
That’s news to me also. When I called last year for a roll call vote at a state committee meeting, I could not get it. Just try getting even the attendance records.
Jackie Shogan won in a three way race, much different than running one-on-one at the top of the ticket. She couldn't even win a Primary against Cheryl Allen who spent like $50 on her race.
Shogan gets dusted in the General Election.
Right on Real! Shogan can't win a General. How many of you know she has Arlen Specter's campaign guy Kent Gates running her race? Does anyone remember a one on one race that he won in this decade?
Shogan's the powerful. Her family has money and she thinks she can put all that TV on again and win. She better have 10 million if she thinks she can win against Panella.
We need a conservative like Orie Melvin. Good on guns, good on life, good on the pay raise and spending. Somebody to speak to Grassroots people.
Also last time I checked 1.1 million was bigger than 974,000 votes but I wasn't a math major.
Wow. The seminar posters are out tonight.
Orie Melvin 23 years on the bench– Shogan 1 YEAR…. period end of story..
If Orie-Melvin hired Mike Long, that tears it for me.
Jackie Shogun has my support.
not to mention at state committee how un-judicial Shogan looked.. it seemed as if she was losing it– no judicial temperament whatsoever. so has never won a primary ever.. what makes he think she can win this one? save the million big ones, judge shogan, and put it towards the next race
Of course Judge Melvin's speech at the RCAC dinner was a rant that lacked any sense of judicial stature. And, that does not even get to ethical lapses throughout her career.
shogan sued the party using none other than clifford levine –> obama/biden's top attorney within PA [Mr. Levine served as Chair of Barack Obama’s Western Pennsylvania Steering Committee. He was a delegate for President-Elect Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and a member of Mr. Obama’s National Finance Committee. He also served as Western Pennsylvania Election Counsel for the Obama-Biden Campaign.] she went with the most liberal democrat attorney she could find to sue the party
Although I have heard encouraging things about Judge Shogan especially when she was running in 2007, I can't gauge her performance on Superior Court because she has only been there for 14+ months.
With Judge Orie -Melvin , there is a record and I am familiar with much of it . I regard her as a fair and conservative jurist who also shows common sense in her opinions, And yes she has a great deal of experience including trial experience . Judge Shogan is young and may be an excellent Supreme Court justice some day . I just don't think that day will come in January 2010 .
I think Paul Panepinto gives us the best chance of getting a Republican elected to the PA Supreme Court because he has the ability to carry the Eastern part of the state.
First, Judge Shogan led the Republican ticket for Superior Court with only six weeks to campaign and appearing last on the ballot. That is impressive in a general election by any standard.
Second, Judge Melvin lost in 2003 and blamed everyone except herself. She promised to raise $2 million and raised less than $1.3. This year she has promised $2.5 and the question is how much can she raise. It appears from the letter the PA Republicans in the Senate are the ones trying to buy a seat.
Third, Judge Shogan had to self fund the raise in 2007 because she got a late start. Where would we have been without her personal spending in terms of winning the seat? Where did Judge Shogan say she was spending a million to buy a seat. And, even if she spends her own money at least we know who she is beholden to herself and her record of ethics and integrity. Can we say the same about the other candidates?
Fourth, based on past campaigns and activity both Judge Melvin and Judge Shogan agree on life, guns, the pay raise as they both returned it, and spending. The real difference is Judge Shogan returned the pay raise and didn't play politics. Judge Melvin filed a lawsuit and played politics. She has hired Mike Long who was one of the architects of the pay raise to run her campaign. What does that say about Judge Melvin's real commitment to reform?
Finally, since you bring up "campaign guys" Judge Shogan hired Kent Gates in September 2007 and won. He has won other races this decade and lost some. What political consultant has won all their races?
23 years experience is a good thing for a lot of jobs. In PA politics, it's more of an indictment — I mean if they actually indicted politicians in PA. (No, I am not saying the Melvin is corrupt, just that a lifetime in PA politics is hardly a resume enhancer any more.
Kent Gates doesn't thrill me either.
Shogan has a diverse life experience outside the courtroom and great legal experience and credentials. Being an effective Justice is not about being an appellate judge for 10 years. Chief Justice Castille had no judicial experience when he was elected in 2003. Former Justice Newman was elected to the Commonwealth Court in 1993 and the Supreme Court in 1995 with no prior judicial experience. And U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts had less than two years of federal Judicial experience when appointed Chief Justice.
Are we faulting Judge Shogan for making the law a second career. Which one attended a top 10 law school?
A vote for Jackie Shogan this spring would be a good kick in Scarnati's, Gleason's and all the other Specterite's butts.
Orie-Melvin is a hack insider supported by the Pro-Life Federation, who I suspect would also like to see Bobby Jindal as our next president and dare I say supported the idea of Michael Steele as Chairman of the RNC.
We need fewer insider "moderates" and more outsiders in office.
Gleason is on tv stating he will give the roll call vote to any Committee Member who asks for it. Are you a committee member or do you know of any committee member who tried and the response?
Sort of like Sallie Mundie who has Long's cronies orchestrating her campaign?
The judge we elect will represent US for ten years. At that time we will vote yes or no for a retention for the next ten years. How many retentions have we unseated? Does experience matter? Yes. But what matters most is the person qualified to do the job AND one of us grassroots constituents or a Harrisburg hack? Personally I want a qualified person (which Jackie is) who is there for me and people like me.
If we unseated more long time judges and politicians, we'd all be better off.
Her former law partner was retained to defend her 2003 petition challenge that was filed by the state party against her — a fellow Republican. She filed to recover her personal legal fees based on the State Committee's failure to get her off the ballot because their filing was frivolous. They accused her husband of not being truthful which was absurd. Shogan dropped the effort for legal fees and paid them herself. Judge Melvin advocated the appointment of a Democrat to the Allegheny County Common Pleas when Tom Ridge was Governor and then sued a blogger for writing about it. So this rediculous game of attacks can go on and on. In the end either Melvin or Shogan and Pannepinto and Allen for that matter will need Democrat votes to win in the general. We can continue with the trial lawyer money Melvin has received.
Irene, oops I mean Snyder Girl, if you knew anthing you would know Sallie Mundy has Ray Zaborney who is no longer associated with Mike Long. Maybe you should check your facts before spouting off uniformed, which is your usual style.
I’m not currently on the state committee, but I’ll have a state committee person call Chairman Gleason on Monday and request this information. This should be interesting!
We had a tremendous opportunity to unseat Tom Saylor, but thanks to key supporters from the GOP, we didn't get the job done.
Pat Toomey's support of Saylor was especially troubling.
Especially since I have it on dvd from PCN that Gleason is for open transparency and accountability and stated he would give the information to any committee person that requests it. I have it straight from PNC.
My identity is not a secret. If you look at my logo and profile anyone can figure who I am. Unlike you not listing a profile. After our county chairman announced at a committee meeting that someone took the effort to take my blog comments and send out "mass email" I found that very impressive. Ray will ALWAYS have Mike Long ties. Itt is proven by the people he surrounded himself with in prior campaigns.
Ditto to Synder_Girl. You said what I think. Some don't like to hear the truth.
Thank you! I won't say anything behind your back I won't say to your face. I cannot stand people who are willing to say things behind people's back and do not have the courage to face the person. Just for the record when my husband received his letter (he was in IN) I called Joan and questioned HER. I did not say anything behind her back without without talking to her first. She stated she had not seen the letter, but approved of it. Funny thing is, she never asked me for a copy of it, if she indeed had not read it, wouldn't she have asked for a copy to see for herself what it said? Maybe she read it on grassrootspa.com.
I think you all have this wrong. This has more to do with Scarnati's style of smash mouth politics and should have nothing to do with a judge campaign. To have our judicial candidates slam each other in a primary only leads to having them serve as fodder for the democrats. Mr. Scarnati somehow assumes he is the leader of our party because of a few other Republican Senators chose him for President Pro Tempore. This clown should craw back under the rock he came out from. He has done far more harm to Judge Melvin's campaign than any of the other candidates would have dreamed. I initially thought this letter was sent out by a rival campaign. Surely no one who truly wanted to see Joan Orie Melvin elected would have been this stupid. Mr. Scarnati should spend the rest of his time slumming on the streets of St. Mary's.
Good point. and,likewise, if Sen.Scarnati supports Orie-Melvin and if Judge Orie-Melvin's sister is in Senate Leadership, how can Judge Melvin make an independent judgment on Constitutional issues. Article III was hammered in the Slots and Pay Raise cases and the plain Art. 8 Sec 8 which Dolley Madison has brought to our attention is routinely disregarded to the great detriment of The Forgotten Taxpayer.
Paul Panepinto promotes his union support. Hardly independent and hardly a Republican.
If Sen. Scarnati is for her, wouldn't any Constitutional Limited Government conservative be opposed. President Pro Tem AND Lt. Governor, does balance of power, separation of power, come to mind. I know, I know, the case has been decided by Penna. Supreme Court. See what I mean. We need an independent, non Establishment Penna. Supreme Court justice. Shogan or Allen fits that profile.
Well said, Mark
so the argument here is that since Lt. Gov Scarnati vocally supports Judge Orie-Melvin then she has a conflict of interest? how does that make any sense… in all of the other candidates' past elections they have all been publicly endorsed by other current PA politicians.. does that mean they all have conflicts? no. it is funny to read all of these blog posts/comments when the voters of the commonwealth have overwhelmingly been positive and supportive of the endorsement and Orie-Melvin's candidacy. when it comes down to it, Judge Orie-Melvin is conservative, consistent, and judicial and has the track record to prove it. we'll see in the primary no matter how many big ones Judge Shogan puts down, she will not (and has never) won a primary.
Judge Orie-Melvin is so entwined with Senate leadership that she is unlikely to be able to find anything it does as unconstitutional. What does she say to her sister and to her biggest political and financial supporter? How far apart in thinking are they, the candidate and the Senate leadership. I think we need a judge who independent of leadership of the General Assembly and the party to decide Constitutional issues.
Well now we know jindal-palin2012 is not Scarnati, at least this person can spell Shogan's name correctly. I think if Scarnati was going to send out a bashing letter he should at least spelled her name correctly.
Orie Melvin entwined with and dependent on Establishment Insider Network – Jackie Shogan independent of Establishment Leadership – end of story
Real world life experience? real world experience in practice of law? as opposed to the vacuum of the courtroom. Real life v. Courtroom life "yes, your honor, no, your honor, may I shine your shoes, your honor?" I have been there. Judges love the power over lawyers and litigants -imperial Jackie Shogan, in my few meetings, comes across as more modest and restrained, down to earth, connected to real people who are affected by her decisions.
Real world life experience? real world experience in practice of law? as opposed to the vacuum of the courtroom. Real life v. Courtroom life "yes, your honor, no, your honor, may I shine your shoes, your honor?" I have been there. Judges love the power over lawyers and litigants -imperial Jackie Shogan, in my few meetings, comes across as more modest and restrained, down to earth, connected to real people who are affected by her decisions.
Scarnati is playing an evil game of politics and should stay clear of this campaign. Seems like he is repaying someone for a pat on the back.
BrabenderCox was not particularly effective with Rick Santorum's campaign. and I don't recall the last campaign that Kent Gates actually won. So far he has not gone negative which is good. It would be unseemly in a Supreme Court race.
Orie Melvin entwined with and dependent on Establishment Insider Network – Jackie Shogan independent of Establishment Leadership – end of story
In the grownup world, I think that you will find that most serious people hire the best lawyer available to represent them, although that does not fully explain Judge Melvin's use of her Democratic brother Jack to sue a blogger for exercising his free speech rights and making what were by the way wholly factual statements about her.
Hello all,
I received Mr. Scarnati's "Dear Friend" letter on Lt. Gov. letterhead and one of his statements struck me as ironic, "Our party stands at a crossroads, ….." — in my opinion, the crossroads is actually a fork in the road, one heading in the direction of the so-called leadership looking out for their self-interests and the other fork is the direction that people like you and me want to take this party–open primaries and let the cream rise to the top, and stop alienating qualified candidates like Judge Shogan for making a run at the seat. I am a new state committee member, winning after a bitter fight last year within my local GOP due to an entrenched senator's interference with the county committee. His wife, a state committee member, carried three votes at the endorsement vote, and I believe that is a serious conflict of interest. Read my reports about the proceedings of the state committee endorsement process on my blog http://www.mercergopforum.blogspot.com.