It’s official: Lebanon County’s Democratic Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz is running for governor. She announced her bid this morning on the steps of the state Capitol building.
“I’ve met with the leaders of townships, boroughs and cities as well as schools to see where we agree on issues and what would make the government run better,” Litz said during the press conference. “With this wealth of experience, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for governor of this great state of Pennsylvania.”
PoliticsPA broke the news of her potential candidacy in June.
Litz mentioned “fixing deadly roads and bridges” as one of the main issues she will focus on during the campaign.
Litz was first elected as county commissioner in 1995 and has been reelected four times since. In 2010, Litz ran unopposed in the primary for a State Senate seat but lost handedly to incumbent Republican Mike Folmer by a near 3-1 margin. She has shown an interest in environmental issues and has served as president of the Swatara Watershed Association.
She joins an already crowded field of announced and potential Democratic candidates including Treasurer Rob McCord, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, former Department of Environmental Protection secretaries Kathleen McGinty and John Hanger, former Department of Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf and pastor Max Myers.
Litz faces a tough if not impossible path to the nomination and she’ll need to start some major fundraising quickly if she hopes to compete. 0.6% of registered Democrats statewide live in Lebanon County.
3 Responses
What’s even more embarrassing is that the two supporters are mother and son (http://www.ldnews.com/ci_23581817/litz-slated-announce-run-governor-at-capitol-tuesday?source=most_viewed)
Russ Diamond must be rollin’ down the road and lol about this one
I’m glad both of her supporters could make it out for the announcement.