QUOTE
13 GOP mayors to back Rendell re-election bid
Saturday, September 30, 2006
BY SHARON SMITH
Of The Patriot-News
For Gov. Ed Rendell, it must feel a little like 2002 all over again.
That's when several Republican mayors came out in support of the Democrat for governor against GOP candidate Mike Fisher.
It's about to happen again. Thirteen Republican mayors, including Kirk Wilson of Carlisle and Robert Anspach of Lebanon, are expected to endorse Rendell for a second term, according to Rendell's campaign.
Many of the mayors will appear with Rendell today at Harrisburg's Martin Luther King Government Center to make it official.
Wilson said he will be there. He said Rendell got his support when Rendell was mayor of Philadelphia, but that his work has governor has cemented it.
"He has gone above and beyond what many of his predecessors did for us," Wilson said, referring to Rendell's support for keeping the U.S. Army War College and Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.
"They both make contributions to the community that would have been sorely missed if we lost either one of them or both," Wilson said. "These were issues of paramount concern. Ed Rendell was not afraid to pick up the phone and ask me 'What do you think?'"
Mayor Sally Geyer of St. Marys planned to drive four hours from Elk County to Harrisburg to back Rendell.
Geyer said she likes Lynn Swann, Rendell's GOP challenger.
"I really do," she said. "I just don't think it's his time right now."
She thinks Rendell needs to finish the work he has started, including helping communities such as St. Marys, which has a population of 14,500.
"We have a lot of downtown projects in the works," she said.
Morrisville Mayor Tom Wisnosky's concurred. Last year, the governor helped the Bucks County borough with a $2 million check for a redevelopment project. Wisnosky said the grant was half the size of the borough's $4 million budget.
"That's a very significant gift," Wisnosky said.
Rendell has maintained strong ties to the southeastern part of the state. Wisnosky said that doesn't affect his support.
"I don't care where someone comes from," Wisnosky said. "I care how connected they are with Morrisville. He's proved to me that he is really interested in small towns, redevelopment and bringing in jobs. I don't care if he's from the moon."
Swann, Black Caucus meet:
While Rendell is picking up bipartisan support today, Swann was in Harrisburg yesterday working on some of his own. Swann had breakfast and spoke with members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus at its annual conference. Most are Democrats.
Swann tried to bridge the political divide by telling the group that his parents are Democrats, and that having choices is part of having freedom. He said that if he is elected, his style of governing would be inclusive.
"We have a chance to make history," Swann said. "To make history for the right reasons to move this Commonwealth forward."
The caucus chairman, Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-Delaware, said the caucus doesn't endorse candidates, but that's not what the event was about.
"In Harrisburg," Kirkland said, "it's always about building relationships."
Saturday, September 30, 2006
BY SHARON SMITH
Of The Patriot-News
For Gov. Ed Rendell, it must feel a little like 2002 all over again.
That's when several Republican mayors came out in support of the Democrat for governor against GOP candidate Mike Fisher.
It's about to happen again. Thirteen Republican mayors, including Kirk Wilson of Carlisle and Robert Anspach of Lebanon, are expected to endorse Rendell for a second term, according to Rendell's campaign.
Many of the mayors will appear with Rendell today at Harrisburg's Martin Luther King Government Center to make it official.
Wilson said he will be there. He said Rendell got his support when Rendell was mayor of Philadelphia, but that his work has governor has cemented it.
"He has gone above and beyond what many of his predecessors did for us," Wilson said, referring to Rendell's support for keeping the U.S. Army War College and Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.
"They both make contributions to the community that would have been sorely missed if we lost either one of them or both," Wilson said. "These were issues of paramount concern. Ed Rendell was not afraid to pick up the phone and ask me 'What do you think?'"
Mayor Sally Geyer of St. Marys planned to drive four hours from Elk County to Harrisburg to back Rendell.
Geyer said she likes Lynn Swann, Rendell's GOP challenger.
"I really do," she said. "I just don't think it's his time right now."
She thinks Rendell needs to finish the work he has started, including helping communities such as St. Marys, which has a population of 14,500.
"We have a lot of downtown projects in the works," she said.
Morrisville Mayor Tom Wisnosky's concurred. Last year, the governor helped the Bucks County borough with a $2 million check for a redevelopment project. Wisnosky said the grant was half the size of the borough's $4 million budget.
"That's a very significant gift," Wisnosky said.
Rendell has maintained strong ties to the southeastern part of the state. Wisnosky said that doesn't affect his support.
"I don't care where someone comes from," Wisnosky said. "I care how connected they are with Morrisville. He's proved to me that he is really interested in small towns, redevelopment and bringing in jobs. I don't care if he's from the moon."
Swann, Black Caucus meet:
While Rendell is picking up bipartisan support today, Swann was in Harrisburg yesterday working on some of his own. Swann had breakfast and spoke with members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus at its annual conference. Most are Democrats.
Swann tried to bridge the political divide by telling the group that his parents are Democrats, and that having choices is part of having freedom. He said that if he is elected, his style of governing would be inclusive.
"We have a chance to make history," Swann said. "To make history for the right reasons to move this Commonwealth forward."
The caucus chairman, Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-Delaware, said the caucus doesn't endorse candidates, but that's not what the event was about.
"In Harrisburg," Kirkland said, "it's always about building relationships."