Politics PA

By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Tom Knox acknowledged Thursday that his plan to reform campaign finances would help wealthy candidates, such as himself, who wouldn’t face any restrictions on how much they can donate to their own effort.

But the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said during an afternoon conference call with reporters that the people of Pennsylvania might benefit to have a personally wealthy governor because he or she could help end “pay-to-play” politics.

“Maybe the wealthy actually have an advantage in that they don’t have to take donations from special-interest groups,” said Knox, speaking on the same day he unveiled a platform of reform proposals. “The wealthy can’t be bought.”

Knox, who made his fortunate by owning and managing an array of businesses, emphasized that it’s also important middle- and lower-class candidates participate.

His money is one of the biggest reasons many Democrats statewide consider him a wildcard in the five-man Democratic gubernatorial race. He faces Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, Auditor General Jack Wagner, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel for the Democratic nomination in race many consider wide-open.

The former Philadelphia mayor candidate said he didn’t know how much he will spend in the race, although he has made himself clear before that he won’t have less money at his disposal than other candidate. He told reporters he doesn’t want money to define his candidacy.

“I don’t want to be perceived though as having bought the election,” he said. “I’m out there doing the same thing as everyone else, raising money.”

Pennsylvania is one of only about 10 states without any kind of campaign finance restrictions.  Knox’s proposal would enact, as he described it, a “two-tier” system that would place greater regulation on people or groups that have a state contract or are bidding for one.  Under his proposal, those entities could contribute only $500 per election cycle.

Restrictions for those without a financial interest in the state haven’t been determined, Knox said, although he hypothetically suggested a $1,000 cap per-candidate-donation.

Knox appears to be positioning himself as an “outsider” reform candidate, a strategy that makes a great deal of sense because of state government’s historically low approval ratings. It’s one likely to be mirrored by every other candidate in the field, Democrat and Republican.

During the conference call, reporters asked Knox about a $5,500 fine and $10,000 in legal fees he agreed to pay after the Philadelphia Board of Ethics found his mayoral campaign had secretly funded ads critical of Michael Nutter. Knox said he didn’t know anything about the ad at the time and called it a reporting error, but he also accepted responsibility.

“The buck stops here,” he said. “I accept responsibility.”

Other Knox reforms include halving the legislature’s size– from 50 senators to about 30 and 203 representatives to 101 – and forcing candidates to resign from their public position if they decide to run for higher office.

The former Philadelphia deputy mayor is the only gubernatorial candidate in either party who does not hold office.

“If you’re going to run for higher-office, I believe you should resign the office you’re in,” he said. “It’s about perception and it’s about public confidence.”

Knox’s proposed restrictions, however, would not apply to those in a federal position.

He acknowledged, when pressed repeatedly by reporters, that many of these changes will not be easily passed. Many of them have been proposed repeatedly the last several years, even decades, but have never had serious momentum toward approval.

But voters want to see candidates who are bent on reforming government, Knox said.

“They want change,” he said. “And these are the type of things they’re looking for.”

*CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story stated Knox paid a $15,500 fine because of an ethics violation. He actually agreed to pay a $5,500 fine and $10,000 in legal fees.

Related Posts

1. PoliticsPA Reports: Knox positions as reform candidate
2. PoliticsPA Reports: Doherty touts record in Scranton
3. PoliticsPA Reports: Knox unveils energy plan but faces questions over event location
4. PoliticsPA: Knox ends campaign, says Onorato gives Ds best chance in fall
5. PoliticsPA: Former gov candidate Knox backs Specter

Tags: Tom Knox, Tom Knox for governor

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 1:50 pm and is filed under PA Reports, PoliticsPA Reports. 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.