Somehow, some way, March is coming to a close. Presumably, with its end the heretofore sleepy gubernatorial races will begin to heat up. The race’s first TV ad — rumor has it Dan Onorato’s campaign will unveil its first spot this week — could be the push the campaigns need to begin seriously engaging one another.

Of course, we did see sparks fly in some of the campaigns last week when Tom Corbett revealed he would participate in a lawsuit to overturn the newly signed federal health care bill. Most prominent of all was the threat from House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), who said he would cut the attorney general’s funding if he didn’t end his involvement in the suit. The powerful Harrisburg lawmaker, who Republicans excoriated for his threat, also demanded Corbett provide in detail how much the lawsuit is costing his office and how many attorneys are working on it, a request the attorney general’s office said late last week that it would not provide. (It costs nothing extra, a spokesman said.)

The political implications of this squabble between the two men could turn a disagreement over a relatively small amount of money into the Capitol’s most prominent issue in the next few weeks if nothing changes. Let’s see if either man blinks first.

We’ll also see if the four Democratic gubernatorial candidates try to gang up on Corbett during a gubernatorial forum Wednesday in the capital city. All six are scheduled to be on hand, and, unlike the previous gubernatorial gatherings, perhaps this one will see the candidates take shots against one another. The forum, held by the Committee of Seventy, will focus on state government reform

And who can forget our former senator’s continued presidential quest? Rick Santorum (R) will continue to feed the 2012 Presidential rumor mill this week when he visits Pottawattamie County Republicans in the all-important primary state of Iowa.  Santorum already visited the state earlier this month to speak with a Christian group, and has been clear expressing interest in the 2012 race.  The Post-Gazette’s Dan Malloy took a look at Santorum’s active PAC, America’s Foundation, this morning.

Tags: Anthony Williams, Anthony Williams for Governor, Dan Onorato, Dan Onorato for Governor, Dwight Evans, Jack Wagner, Jack Wagner for governor, Joe Hoeffel, Joe Hoeffel for governor, Rick Santorum, Rick Santorum 2012, Sam Rohrer, Sam Rohrer for governor, Tom Corbett, Tom Corbett for governor, Tom Corbett health care lawsuit, Weekly Primer

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 1:02 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.