By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

HARRISBURG — Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Gerlach acknowledges his opponent Tom Corbett is the early favorite for the party’s nomination. The southeast congressman said Monday he just hopes the GOP’s power brokers don’t try “anoint” the attorney general, a move Gerlach argued would repeat the party’s gubernatorial mistakes of the last decade.

“Some party leaders unfortunately want to clear the field right now for one candidate and push the endorsement before all interested candidates have had a reasonable chance to … compete for the voter’s support and earn that support through a campaign,” Gerlach said at the monthly Pennsylvania Press Club Luncheon in downtown. “I think that kind of effort only creates a disservice to the almost 3 million rank-and-file Republicans who deserve to hear each candidate and deserve a choice in this important election for governor.”

The GOP’s recent gubernatorial history should show party bosses that uncompetitive primaries hurt the party, Gerlach said. He cited the 2002 and 2006 Republican primaries, when former Attorney General Mike Fisher and former Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann, respectively, each ran uncontested. Each was handily defeated by Democrat Ed Rendell.

Corbett is the clear choice for many Republican power brokers and party officials, support that coalesced around the attorney general after he convincingly won re-election last year despite a favorable environment for Democrats. Gerlach’s chances at winning insider support, and the party’s official endorsement early next year, appear slim, so positioning himself as an outsider candidate whose message is aimed at rank-and-file Republicans makes sense.

The southeast congressman’s message also took aim at one of Corbett’s perceived weaknesses — the absence of a fiscally conservative track record. Gerlach spent much of his speech highlighting what he described as a taxpayer-friendly record in Harrisburg, where he spent 12 years, and as a congressman, which he’s been since 2002.

“In this race for governor, on issues like jobs, taxes, the economy, energy, education, health care, I’m the only candidate with a successful record of working successfully on those issue on both the state and federal level,”  he said. “In fact that’s exactly what Republican voters across Pennsylvania are looking for in their next governor, if they have a choice.”

The southeast congressman also touted his electability in a southeast congressional district that has shifted to the left. Gerlach survived difficult re-election campaigns in 2004 and 2006 despite fellow collar-county Republicans losing their seats, proof, he said, he can win in a state that has 1.2 million more registered Democrats than Republicans.

Gerlach is no longer the only GOP challenger to Corbett. Last week, state Rep. Sam Rohrer officially declared his candidacy, a campaign many observers think is a test of the tea party movement’s political viability.

Gerlach welcomed Rohrer to the race but declined to say whether or not the lawmaker’s candidacy will be beneficial to his own.

“I don’t know what the political calculus is,” the congressman said.

GOP strategists are divided over whether Rohrer helps or hurts Gerlach. Some think the state representative will cut into Gerlach’s appeal to Republicans unhappy with their party’s establishment, a group he likely must win if Corbett already has the support of most party officials. Other analysts say the extra candidate further divides the field, adds uncertainty, and reduces the chance a front-runner can cruise to victory.

Gerlach also used Monday’s speech to once again question whether Corbett should continue his campaign while simultaneously conducting a high-profile public corruption investigation. The criticism is one the congressman has leveled for months.

But he stopped short of demanding the attorney general resign or suspend his campaign, saying how Corbett addresses the problem is “up to him.”

“Bottom line is the conflict exists and needs to be resolved,” Gerlach said. “It’s up to the general to figure out how best do that.”

Tags: Jim Gerlach, Republican gov primary, Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Front Page Stories. 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.