Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson‘s administration has been a mess from the start, with staffers consistently fleeing the office for greener pastures.  Now, after former Communications Director Jim Penna left to become Rep. Mark Critz’s District Director, Thompson’s people have turned to Craigslist to fill the position.  Craigslist is great for buying tickets to a baseball game or picking up a cheap dresser from someone who’s moving, not for hiring the city mayor’s top press person. 

  

 GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett is out to an early fundraising lead over Democrat Dan Onorato, who, admittedly, had a much more expensive primary battle to overcome.  Still, it’s a good start for Corbett in what promises to be an expensive general election battle. 

  

 State Democrats head to their summer committee meeting this weekend with many more  questions than answers.  Who will lead the state committee in the crucial election cycle? Will Joe Sestak show up to the meeting?  Can Sestak and the pro-Specter Dem establishment kiss and make up?  If they can keep it together, they can use a massive voter registration advantage to ward off what may be a rough election cycle.  If they cant, it spells bad news for Pa. Dems. 

 

As if we haven’t mentioned this enough, we’ll give props once more to State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and state Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Delaware, Montgomery), for going live on PCN (and taking calls) on immigration legislation.  Despite standing worlds apart on most issues, it’s healthy to see the two of them commit to something like that. 

 

Apparently, 7th district Republican Pat Meehan wanted to hit back at his opponent, state Rep. Bryan Lentz, after the Democrat gained traction last month by raising questions about Meehan’s ballot petition.  Count this week’s press conference as a swing-and-a-miss. Meehan came out prepared to make Lentz another example of “Bonusgate“-style corruption, and left a group of thoroughly unconvinced journalists behind. 

In true Geraldo fashion, a nameless member of the PA GOP House caucus set up a Democratic member for a Philadelphia TV station investigative sting, all over a House Committee Dinner.  Though the dinners are usually bipartisan, this one wasn’t.  Don’t expect House Dems to sit on their hands after this – they’ll be sure to find out who turned this into a story.