According to James O’Toole from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, former Auditor General Jack Wagner is still thinking about running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Wagner has had one of the longest and most diverse political histories of any Western PA politician, including stints with Pittsburgh City Council, State Senate and Auditor General.
In addition to serving those public offices, he’s a perennial candidate for other offices. He ran and lost for Pittsburgh mayor in 1993 and 2013; he ran and lost Lieutenant Governor in 2002 and more recently ran for the Democratic nomination in 2010 for Governor and came in second to Dan Onorato.
If he were to jump into the Democratic primary at this point, he would face 7 other declared candidates including State Treasurer Rob McCord, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, former DEP Secretaries Katie McGinty and John Hanger, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz and minister Max Myers.
Despite the crowded field, Wagner brings a great deal of name recognition and the geographical Western PA advantage.
Public Policy Polling showed him finishing second in a hypothetical primary match-up. Schwartz came in first of the declared candidates with 21% of the vote, Wagner came in second with 17%.
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7 Responses
I love Jack and he’s been a great public servant, but enough is enough. There comes a time for all of us to move on and Jack’s time has arrived.
Holy Mother of God: The stench of crony capitalism is growing so strong in the Keystone state with the Tom Corbett gang and their political necrophilia that Old Gunslingers like Jack Wagner are suiting up and locking and loading. “Was it like that in the old days, Jack?” http://youtu.be/XoAPKt7kbD0
Mr. Wagner was an excellent auditor General. I remember his audits on pensions and his solutions on how to make them work and his hearings on adult basic for the working poor. Those issues never got fixed as he recommended. I guess because insiders were taking too much from the taxpayers. Look at Mr. Rendell and how much he is pocketing from people getting government contracts and the same for Mr. Ridge. Neither party can abide an honest man.
i agree with burgmeister cant win or raise money he would hurt wolf and mccord if he did run you never know third time could be a charm.
There is absolutely no chance that the money people in either party will let Jack Wagner win. He was a thorn in the side of Rendell and Corbett and some of his early audits even took on Ridge. He knows where the rules are rigged for the insiders and he has had the guts to take on the Turnpike boys, the banksters and their swaps, the charter school crooks, the insurance scammers and the University poohbahs. No one who makes a buck from corrupt government wants Jack Wagner as governor. And that means no one financing any of the pretenders.
I know mccords supporters dont want him to run he will ruin mccords chances in western pa so i say run jack run be a spoiler.
Well, it’s only 11 days until the start of petitions, so there will have to be a decision soon.