Search
Close this search box.

Paterno Drops Out Of Lt. Gov. Race

Paterno
Paterno

Former assistant football coach at Penn State, Jay Paterno announced that he is withdrawing from the race for Lieutenant Governor.

He was facing a petition challenge from Harrisburg City Councilman and Lt. Gov. hopeful Brad Koplinski.

The following is his full statement.

This afternoon I am announcing my intent to withdraw from the Lt. Governor’s race. Over the past twenty-four hours in talking with attorneys it has become clear that the ballot challenge could be a long process with potential decisions and appeals carrying beyond Monday’s hearing.

With less than two months remaining before the primary I do not want an ongoing legal back and forth to be a distraction in this race. The outcome of this election is too important for the future of the working families and all the people of this Commonwealth.

While I have always believed that you fight for what is right, there are times in life when personal ambitions should give way for the good of the whole. To that end I am stepping away. It is my hope that a focus on a thorough airing of the issues allows the best Democratic candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor to lead us into November.

I thank everyone who has supported our campaign. I know we entered this race late and I alone bear responsibility for that and for any shortcomings in our efforts.

As I have stated at every campaign stop I would be honored to be the nominee, but if I fell short of that goal, I would work hard to help the Governor and Lt. Governor nominees win the election in November. That has not changed. I will continue to advocate for the issues of Education, Employment and Equality that we all feel passionately about in any way I can contribute.

 

In addition to Koplinski, remaining in the Lt. Gov. race are Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, State Rep. Brandon Neuman, State Senator Mike Stack and former Rep. Mark Critz.

17 Responses

  1. I hope its Wolf and Koplinski, but not matter who it will be, they better beat Corbett. Can we agree on that?

  2. This is a Stack vs Critz race. By siphoning off some southwest PA votes, Neuman will help Stack. Also the competitive Dem US House primaries will boost turnout there helping Stack. Paterno should have run against Glenn Thompson. It would be a long shot but the district became slightly less Republican in the last re-districting and the Paterno name would hold sway throughout Central PA.

  3. It’s time to convince Paterno to run for State Senate against Jake Corman, who is running unopposed. It’s not too late for us to write in his name.

  4. This is very good news! Let’s get to work to nominate the winning team for Pennsylvania:

    Tom Wolf for Governor
    Mark Critz for Lt. Governor

  5. @Adam B, I never said you couldn’t use a common name. I think it’s stupid that he didn’t use what he had. The lieutenant governor primary is probably one of the least researched races. Why wouldn’t you want to tempt a bunch of LIVs to pick JoePa for the sheer novelty?

  6. No, you can appear on the ballot as a name by which you’re commonly known, even if it’s not your legal name.

  7. Not the most savvy of politicos. Why would you ever use a nickname (Jay Paterno) when your legal name on the ballot would appear as:
    Joseph V. Paterno?

Email:
  • Do you agree that ByteDance should be forced to divest TikTok?


    • Yes. It's a national security risk. (60%)
    • No. It's an app used by millions and poses no threat. (40%)
    • What's ByteDance? (0%)

    Total Voters: 30

    Loading ... Loading ...
Continue to Browser

PoliticsPA

To install tap and choose
Add to Home Screen