Every week, PoliticsPA will give you a taste of the buzz, rumors and gossip floating around Pennsylvania’s political wags. This week’s feature focuses on revelations about Lou Barletta’s GOP opponent, state Rep. Will Gabig’s future, and Governor Rendell’s continued criticism of Joe Sestak.

The revelation Lou Barletta’s Republican opponent, Chris Paige, was a longtime Democrat until recently sparked the Hazleton mayor’s political guru, Vince Galko, to seemingly imply to the Times-Tribune that Paige’s motives for running weren’t pure.

Paige’s negative campaign raises question as to “why he joined the Republican Party,” Galko told the paper.

When asked by PoliticsPA in a follow-up e-mail if he was implying U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski was behind Pagie’s campaign, Galko said his “childish attacks” and background as a Democrat simply raises the question.

“I am just saying the guy recently switched parties after donating thousands of dollars to Democrats over the last few years and he has been attacking Mayor Barletta from day one,” Galkso said. “It is only logical to question his motives.”

Paige took the criticism head on in a recent blog post, saying, “These paranoid fantasies say more about their proponents than they do about me.”

Sources tell PoliticsPA the rumor mill has it that state Rep. Will Gabig (R-Cumberland) might retire at the end of this session. The Carlisle-area lawmaker was rumored to be interested for a county judgeship last year but stepped aside from the race to allow former state Rep. Al Masland to run.

Governor Ed Rendell took a thinly-veiled shot at U.S. Rep. and Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak during a Tuesday press conference. The governor announced the state was expanding the scope of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a boost in aid that Sestak has repeatedly demanded.  But Rendell shrugged off the congressman’s criticism, saying the real problem was a decrease in federal money for the program.

“And it’s my understanding (Sestak’s) a federal officer,” Rendell said, not directly saying the decrease in funding was Sestak’s fault but making his point clear nonetheless. “Just my understanding.”

Speaking of the state’s chief executive, he also Tuesday promised to eat at the recently reopened Capitol cafeteria, which was closed late last year because an infestation of mice.

“I make this promise: I will go the Capitol cafeteria this week,” said Rendell, who added that he had some marketing ideas to help them attract customers who might be reluctant to eat there.

One stipulation to the governor promise, though. He wants the Capitol’s journalists to eat lunch with him. No word if it will be off the record.

Finally, state Rep. Curt Schroder is likely in a tough fight for the Republican nomination in the 6^th Congressional District against four opponents, so his fundraising acumen will be key. After raising more than $100,000 last fiscal quarter, his first full one as a candidate, the lawmaker declined to give PoliticsPA the early word on his fourth quarter number but said fundraising was on track. He pointed out that the man he’s trying to replace, Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach, had only $110,000 on hand in March the first time he ran for the seat, in 2002. Schroder said he already matched that total before the fourth fiscal quarter started.

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Tags: Chris Paige, Ed Rendell, Joe Sestak, Lou Barletta, Will Gabig

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous, PA Reports, PoliticsPA Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.