By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Newly minted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Doherty said Tuesday that reinvigorating Pennsylvania’s ailing cities, small and large, is the key to Pennsylvania’s future, and he said his tenure as Scranton’s mayor proves he knows how to do so.

“I believe we have to invest in our urban cores and small towns to bring this state around,” he told reporters shortly after officially announcing his candidacy a few hours earlier in Scranton.

The mayor took credit for helping revitalize Scranton, a town he said was once severely distressed but now is a place where people can work and live in.  Other urban areas across the state could benefit from his experience and passion if he became governor, he said.

“We need to make our cities desirable so people want to come back to them,” Doherty said.

He faces a difficult battle to become the Democratic nominee for governor, much less win a general election. Four other Democratic gubernatorial candidates have already declared, including Auditor General Jack Wagner, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, and Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox.

Doherty’s pitch focused on practical solutions he brought to Scranton as mayor, and he tried to highlight his “passion and drive” to get things done.

He also positioned himself as socially liberal. He favors abortion rights, he said, and when asked about gay marriage, the mayor said everyone has a right to be happy. Doherty also voiced support for what he called reasonable gun restrictions, such as a ban on purchasing more than one gun a month.

Appealing to social liberals makes political sense for Doherty. The front-runner, Onorato, doesn’t think the state’s abortion laws should be changed but is personally against abortion rights. Wagner is similarly social conservative.

Doherty’s efforts with social liberals might be harmed by documents that show the candidate once supported a Constitutional Amendment to ban abortions.

But the much bigger question facing Doherty’s campaign is whether he can raise enough money to stay competitive. The mayor acknowledged he was “never going to compete” on that front with other candidates, but he said he’ll raise enough money to “tell his story.”

Onorato has raised $6 million, while Knox has promised to match Onorato’s fundraising dollar-for-dollar  out of his own personal fortune.

The difficult economy means candidates won’t be able to buy their way to victory, Doherty said.

“People are paying attention right now,” he said. “This isn’t like elections in the past where you can spend as much money as you need.”