By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com
Lieutenant Governor candidate Jim Cawley received the state Republican Party’s endorsement Saturday afternoon, giving the Bucks County commissioner’s candidacy a huge boost to win the GOP primary in a crowded field.
Cawley won the endorsement on the second ballot, securing 189 votes out of a possible 329. He needed only a majority to earn the party’s official support.
His endorsement brings clarity to a race that has been among the most tumultuous in the state, firmly entrenching the commissioner as the contest’s favorite. More than 10 candidates expressed interest or were rumored to be considering a run for the job in the last half-year, such a plethora of campaigns that it became a running joke at many Republican events.
After accepting the endorsement, Cawley immediately positioned himself as Attorney General Tom Corbett’s running mate, who earlier in the day also receive the state GOP’s endorsement. He also tried to unite the party, which had divided its support among the array of candidates, behind his candidacy.
“This process here today has been a very thorough process, taking up several months,” he told the crowd. “And we may have had our differences through this process, but I think we can all agree there is much, much more that unites us than divides us.”
Cawley still must win the GOP primary, and he might face as many as three opponents for the nomination. York County businessman Steve Johnson said he will continue his campaign, while former auditor general candidate Chet Beiler and political commentator Joe Watkins said afterward they weren‘t sure about their future.
Dauphin County Commissioner Nick DiFrancesco ended his candidacy for the state’s No. 2 spot after he failed to receive the endorsement.
Saturday’s endorsement in the race will likely anger some grassroots activists who consider the southeast Republican hand-picked by top GOP officials, who they say jammed his candidacy through the endorsement process. The activists said that with two candidates likely to receive the endorsement, Corbett and U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey, the party should have held an open primary for the lieutenant governor contest.
Their concerns about Cawley‘s endorsement was echoed by Beiler in an interview afterward.
“I have concerns about how the southeast conducts business in this process,” said the Lancaster County businessman, who declined to be more specific.
Luke Bernstein, executive director of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, defended the endorsement process, saying each state committee member had a chance to vote in public.
“Every member of every caucus was given an opportunity to vote today,” he said. “That has not always been the past process. I think that open roll-call vote gave members their say in the process, regardless of what caucus they came from.”
Although many Republicans expected Cawley to receive the party’s official support, the endorsement was not nearly as certain as it was for gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett and U.S. Senate nominee Pat Toomey.
Cawley nearly doubled the number of straw poll votes he received from regional caucuses as his closest competitor, Beiler. The caucuses were held in the weeks before the endorsement meeting.
But some Republicans had speculated that the plethora of candidates running for the position might unite their supporters behind support for an open primary. Cawley received the most support in the straw polls, but the combined votes of the other candidates far exceeded the commissioner’s total.
After the first ballot, Cawley received 162 votes, just shy of the majority needed for an endorsement. Beiler had received, 84, DiFrancesco 24, and Watkins 43. On the second ballot, Cawley received 189 votes, Beiler 93, and Watkins 34, with 13 members abstaining.
Tags: Chet Beiler, Jim Cawley, Jim Cawley for lieutenant governor, Jim Cawley Republican endorsement, Joe Watkins, Steve Johnson
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Watkins should keep going. Competition in this cycles environment is healthy. Cawley lost if all votes against him were tallied as a block, meaning the counties may have wanted someone else, but did not coalesce around one person. The electorate just might respond favorably.