FINAL PA GOP CAUCUS STRAW VOTE TOTALS*
Governor:
Tom Corbett 314
Sam Rohrer 31
Lt Gov:
Jim Cawley 101
Chet Beiler 66
Joe Watkins 48
Nick DiFrancesco 38
Carol Aichele 28
Steve Johnson 15
Craige Pepper 10
Greg Sahd 1
Frank Rizzo 1
Russ Diamond 0
Steve Urban 0
NOTE: Montco’s 23 ‘Disputed’ Cawley/Aichele/neither votes not included.
US Senate:
Pat Toomey 306
Peg Luksik 22
Estadt 1
Abstain 1
*Some NE Central PA Caucus votes not included due to weather.
43 Comments
http://www.NoMoreInsiders.com
It will take an outsider to clean up Harrisburg.
Chris,
Thanks for finally getting the Montco votes in the right column/classification. It only took 6 weeks!
Are people going to be guided by this? How many are rejecting it?
It's easy to win an endorsement when Bob Asher is calling around and misrepresenting the Corbett campaign. Corbett didn't have a choice, but Asher lied and said he had chosen Cawley. Asher is a liar and a snake.
The smell from this meeting is pretty rank……….
A snow job outside the meeting and inside the meeting.
Open primary I like for LG Then the Aichele law firm buys it for Aichele who nobody wants or supports. There has to be another way out than letting the Turnpike investigatees and ultimate insiders the Aicheles take your good idea and thwart it with their money.
I have not followed LT Gov race at all
Is watkins good for us?
Steve Johnson has a story and passion that can help the ticket. The party will likely endorse Cawley. So, we'll end up having a primary for a office that nobody cares about. This video sums it all up:
[youtube AK921XNDbO8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK921XNDbO8 youtube]
Cawley has 4 years no increases. Aichele raises taxes every year through 2009 and hid 30% increase until after an election when she was Controller This year Cawley zero again This year Aichele's political consultant dictated a rigged budget (no spending cuts just cook the books) with to show increase so taxes will then skyrocket after the election like Aichele helped with before
On taxes Cawley pretty good Aichele worse than Pelosi.
Cawley raised taxes by over 7% in Bucks as soon as he took office. He's a tax raiser and will bankrupt Pennsylvania's families if he is L. G.
No, THANK YOU for posting zillions of anonymous comments attacking your political enemies all day long.
I really enjoy, BTW, how you make a different name up for each one to make it look like everyone agrees with you! VERY CLEVER!
After all, it's so much more productive than making a genuine effort to help someone like me clarify disputed votes!!!!
If I had to guess, Cawley or Walkins will be the Lt. Governor choice. Aichele has not caught traction.
The downsides to Cawley is he is pro-choice and supported the Obama stimulus plan. Not sure how a Republican can run with that record and expect to help the top of the ticket.
Despite that Cawley is okay because he does not overshadow Corbett. He is a pretty weak public speaker and is generally awkward around people. He makes Corbett look like a rock star.
Joe Watkins is now seen as a serious contender at being the LG candidate, He's peaking at the right time in the eyes of some folks who follow this. He's considered as real leadership material by players inside and outside when personally grilled and a potentailly solid match to Corbett if he hangs in there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACauZZUBanU
The facts – Watkins had some Montco support Aichele had none. Aichele as insider is attacking the insiders and trying to ride Watkins coattails into a primary she or husband can buy. The Watkins folks including Guzzardi are being used by Aichele cause she knows she can buy the primary An open primary with Aichele is a money contest she wins – an open primary without Aichele might actually be a good thing.
Chris, you are correct to call out folks and if Aichele people are complaining be alert Aichele has no Montco support Watkins has significant Montco support
Aichele is trying to be the best candidate money can buy, but is failing miserably at it. If she cannot win support in Montco, she is done. Chester County alone is not going to drag her across the finish line.
Steve, Cawley is pro-life.
Chris – Cawley supports the funding of Planned Parenthood.
http://charlesmeredith.com/MC05archives/MC%2002-1...
Cawley, like all commissioners, including DiFrancesco, does the same clever thing. They vote for a massive tax increase as soon as they get into office, so they don't have to raise one for a while after that, thinking the initial tax increase will be forgotten amid the rhetoric of "Held the line of taxes for x amount of years!!!!!!" The voters aren't as stupid as Cawley, DiFrancesco, and numerous other GOP county commissioners think they are.
Absolutely right
I think the LT Gov is up in the air and no one cares about the endorsement because it appears just about everyone on this list is RINO. Look who the Tea Party is gettign behind and you will know who has the better ideas.
As for the Gov, go with Sam. Tom doenst have the moral courage to do whats right for the tax payers
here here (said in a Birtish accent)
I knew I should have ran haha
Cawley might support taxpayer funding for various Planned Parenthood services but it is inaccurate for you to state he is 'pro-choice' (re: the legality of the abortion procedure.)
Like it or not, those are two separate issues (the legality of abortion VS: government funding for various Planned Parenthood services).
What's a matter Chris? Are you mad you were duped by Asher?
Your crush on Cawley is not very subtle.
Okay, that is like saying, I supported various services of the South African government but I did not support apartheid. One of the core mission of planned parenthood is to abort babies. ANY support of the organization will ultimately go towards planned parenthood being able to execute its key mission.
There are many other organizations that Cawley could have supported – of he was interested in other programs. The clear take away from this is that Cawley is happy to play it both ways – he had to appeal to the more Progressive of his constituents in Bucks – now that he runs statewide – he is trying to cover his tracks – clearly core convictions are not part of his make-up. Holding office and ambition are the only constants.
Actually I don't have a dog in this fight.
The pro-life movement should be all about supporting birth control efforts.
That said, I am against any funding for the pro-life or pro-choice movements. The government should not be involved.
Not all LG candidates are RINO's. And the Tea Party, just like Republican State Committee, is the final arbiter of who has the best ideas and thus passes the test of who should be our leaders. Usually, that's done by primary and general election voters.
Check the last post. NEITHER the Tea Party or the Republican State is the final arbiter of who best to serve the people. Neither one has that much sway over the primary and general election voters.
more on Tax and Spend Jim Cawley, friend of Union Organizers, is here http://jrjim.blogspot.com If this is incorrect statement of record, please post specific errors.
Thanks for all info on LT Gov area
I personally think the Gov nominee should be able to chose his own LT Gov candidate so thats why I don’t even believe in following race
we just saw in Illinois all hell thats getting the Dems
Just got an email that Aichele is dropping out
The state GOP committee is making a big mistake. They are meddling in races where they should simply be calling for an open primary.
Ever state committee person who voted to endorse a candidate should have an opponent in the primary.
Theoretically, Blankley is correct: the 17th Amendment (passed, if you will notice, at roughly the same time the income tax was passed) should be repealed since it was a bad idea from the inception and clearly flies in the face of what the Founders intended.
That said, how do you take away the "right" to elect the Senator and turn it over to the legislature, especially one such as we have in Pennsylvania?
Until more people are better educated about the Constitution itself, activists and reformers would do well to focus on those issues which are easy wins – lower taxes, less spending, limited government, state sovereignty.
The 17th Amendment was passed because most states were holding public elections for Senate and appointing whomever won the vote. The democratically elected members were challenging the legitimacy of the unelected members who were appointed also.
I see the same thing happening again. Repeal the 17th Amendment and almost immediately there would be efforts in most states to enact some form of popular selection so the vast majority of states would return to electing Senators.
I actually like direct election of Senators. I suspect if we did not have direct elections, we would see far more Nebraska style deals where politicians are selected by the Legislatures exclusively on their ability to bring bacon home. State Legislatures are to large extent focused on squeezing as much money out of the Feds as they can do. At least now Senators still have to face the voters.
“Progessive” (or Moderate) Cawley supports giving taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood
In an interview shortly after he was appointed to the vacant commissioners seat in Bucks, he pronounced himself a “progessive” in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt and “open” to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. http://charlesmeredith.com/MC05archives/MC%2002-16-05%20Jim%20Cawley.htm
Morbius – I thought you would find this interesting:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/po...
Watkins is quietly moving along, getting an endorsement just before Feb 13. May not mean much, but staying competitive still:
http://www.watkins2010.com
I'm watching Steve Johnson, he has alot of votes for an outsider. The State Committee is as corrupt as most of the politicians we have running so cannot take stock in anything they dish out as a group. Some are scratching each others backs, accepting gifts from candidates – which amount to nothing but bribes. I'm looking at the outsider (Steve Johnson) and starting to like what I see. I'm having trouble with Watkins, my sixth sense telling me there is something not quite real with him, plus too in with the political crowd. I think it may behoove the Republican Party to refrain from endorsing this election cycle and go with an open primary. Too many volatile components and volatile voters in this mix to call too early as it may blow up in the party's face. Aichele has dropped. My gut is saying Steve Johnson is the one to watch.
Steve Urban didn't participate in these mickey mouse straw polls. What joke. 2/3 of committee members don't even show up and other candidates don't participate because they believe the people across the commonwealth should have voice who they chose for lt. governor.
Hold the phone on the Steve Johnson is an "Outsider"call:
http://www.pa2010.com/2010/02/johnsons-raised-mor...
Respectfully, Mr. Johnsons current campaign records just showed that he was in bed with an insider, spent the most of his money on him, and got poor results from the caucuses. Johnsons a good man, I agree, but actions speak a lot louder than words sometimes, especially in campaigns.