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Reader Poll: Who is the Strongest Republican Gubernatorial Candidate in a General Election?

Gov_Seal_2015The field of candidates to challenge Governor Tom Wolf next year is continuing to grow, and is expected to be one of the nationally watched races.  

Currently state Senator Scott Wagner (R-York), and  Allegheny county businessman Paul Mango have declared for the race.  State House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) is strongly considering a run, and former Lt. Governor Jim Cawley is rumored to be considering a run as well.  

So we want to know, who is the strongest Republican Gubernatorial candidate in a general election?

 

Who is the strongest Republican Gubernatorial candidate in a general election?


  • Lt. Governor Jim Cawley (60%)
  • State Sen. Scott Wagner (30%)
  • Speaker Mike Turzai (5%)
  • Paul Mango (4%)

Total Voters: 6,881

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59 Responses

  1. Scott Wagner guarantees Wolf is a 2 term governor. Cawley would be the best chance tye GOP has to defeat Wolf

  2. Barletta will be a force with Trump’s backing should he choose to run. I’m not saying that’s my choice. Just saying he’s a force with MAGA support he goes that route.

  3. Get to know Sen. Scott Wagner well, then there will be no doubt in your mind that he is the candidate to clean up the politically corrupt and financially mishandled mess that Pennsylvania finds itself. Look at Wagner’s Senatorial record for starters, then trace his successes as a businessman.

  4. If he runs, my vote is automatically, 100%, for Jim Cawley. I have had the pleasure of chatting with him on a number of occasions. He is genuine. In the world of politics, there are not many that can be trusted. Jim Cawley can be trusted.

    1. Look north at the poll results in this article. Mango lied about his voting record. He is the Gary Hart of this race. If you don’t who who Gary Hart was, look it up.

      1. Mango has spotty record of voting

        [and indeed appears to have misrepresented it]

        htt
        p://ww
        w.post-gazette.co
        m/early-returns/erstate/2017/06/07/Paul-Mango-candidate-governor-pittsburgh-businessman-spotty-voting-record/stories/201706070149#sthash.mbahcXe8.dpuf

        First-time gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango is asking Republicans to turn out for him in the 2018 primary — the kind of race he has typically skipped as a voter.

        According to Allegheny County voter records dating back to 1988, the Pittsburgh business consultant has failed to vote in every primary contest through 2015. (He did vote in the 2016 and 2017 primaries.) He has also frequently failed to vote in the November general election in odd-numbered years: He has voted only in four such elections out of 15 that have been held since 1988.

        “I wish I would have been more active politically earlier in my life,” Mr. Mango said in a statement issued by his campaign. “I did vote in every general election and have supported Republicans here in our state and nationally. I want for my family what every Pennsylvanian wants for theirs, a chance at the American dream, and that dream is fading here in our Commonwealth.”

        But voting records suggest that Mr. Mango did not vote in every general election.In addition to the odd-numbered “off year” elections he skipped, he appears not to have cast a general-election ballot in 1990 or 1996, when President Bill Clinton won re-election over Republican Bob Dole, or in 2002. That was a gubernatorial election, in which Democrat Ed Rendell won the office Mr. Mango is now seeking.

        It’s not unusual for everyday voters to skip elections, especially in odd-numbered years when the ballot largely consists of low-wattage local and school board races. And in some years, Mr. Mango’s vote would have made no difference. In 2014, for example, there were no competitive races on the GOP primary ballot.

        Even so, “As Ricky Ricardo would say, ‘You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do,'” said Charlie Gerow, a Harrisburg political consultant and a fixture in Republican state politics.

        “This may be not that interesting to general-election voters, but to the audience he is talking to right now — party activists and committeepeople — voting is very, very important,” Mr. Gerow said. “These are the kind of things that can — and I underline ‘can’ — sink a candidate.”

        Mr. Gerow noted tha Mr. Mango apparently sat out primary contests that helped shape the face of the state’s GOP.

        In 2012, for example, Republicans picked Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee from a field of four contenders: Businessman Tom Smith, an outside businessman candidate like Mr. Mango, won a hotly contested five-way race to challenge Bob Casey’s re-election to the U.S. Senate.

        Mr. Gerow said 2010 was “a sea-change election,” in which then-Attorney General Tom Corbett won the gubernatorial nomination Mr. Mango is now seeking, and ultimately the governship. “Any gubernatorial year is important,” Mr. Gerow said, “because the governor’s office is the building block of future campaigns.”

        Mr. Mango is expected to face at least one Republican rival, state Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York, in the bid to replace Gov. Tom Wolf next year. Another Allegheny County Republican, state House Speaker Mike Turzai, is widely expected to enter the race this summer. Mr. Wagner’s campaign did not return a call for comment Tuesday afternoon, and York County voting records were not immediately available Tuesday.

  5. Jim roddey. He always did what La familia told him and we never missed a bond issue when he was allege co exec.

    1. Okay…nope. The godfather says he is running our marihuana dispense project so he is indispensable. St Barnabas is going to get a little higher and closer to God as Jim mixes pills and shills.

  6. It’s clear to me Cawley is the best bet for PA and I sincerely believe he has the best chance at beating Wolf. However, Cawley still carries Corbett’s name with him and that will make it hard. I am still praying for Cawley to announce though.

    1. Cawley is popular, but he has a dream-job and would not probably wish to depart for an uncertain future.

    2. Jim Cawley and Mike Turzai have the following in common:
      A. They are insider hacks
      B. They raised taxes
      C. They lack the balls to run
      D. All the above

      1. I cannot comment on Mike, but Jim has always been a straight-shooter; he doesn’t lack the ability to run, but [and I’ve chatted with him personally regarding this issue for a half-decade] I really don’t think he would want to part with his current charitable pursuit.

  7. Wagner won’t even be relevant come election time. Wolf’s real competition is Libertarian Ken Krawchuk.

  8. Mike Turzai was House leader when we had the Governorship, the House and the Sentate and what did we get? Zero accomplished. It is time for new leadership under Scott Wagner… For Sure.

  9. Cawley = Corbett, a loser who sis not keep his promises to those who voted for him.

    1. Yea. Scott Wagner choked out his daughter. Let’s get behind that guy and hope no one cares to read the police report. Good call, Bob. Let’s criticize other elected officials who were limited in their constitutional powers for not doing more.

      1. You mean the daughter who fully supports his run for office and appears in his campaign literature? Wolf is going down bro, deal with it

      1. cawley has said cleary he has no interest in running for governor and given his close ties to corbett makes him a problematic canidate in the primary. plus he really doesn’t want too

  10. The strongest is also the one I least want to see in: Wagner, on war chest alone.

    1. He may have done enough personally to negate that war chest, which is nuts to think about, bc the man has money.

  11. Interesting and have thought all along that Wagner will buy it he position like Wolf and not really be a whole lot different because when you say a bill is flawed and vote for it because you say it is a start you are an idiot! To think that Pa politics would fix or correct it very fast is just wrong !

  12. Interesting and have thought all along that Wagner will buy it he position like Wolf and not really be a whole lot different because when you say a bill is flawed and vote for it because you say it is a start you are an idiot! To think that Pa politics would fix or correct it very fast is just wrong !

  13. If Strongest in smell, it is TurdsEye. If Strongest in thuggery, that would be criminal assaulter Wagner.

  14. Scott Wagner stood up against Soros. The man will not be bought and will defend our values. I trust him as our next governor.

    1. Right on Robert. Neither the left or the right will like that much, but the people will love it when their paycheck is no longer a slave to the appetite of the career politicians in that swamp some call “Harrisburg.”

    2. Who would want to? He is going to lose in the General and he has been busy buying everyone else’s support. You don’t get bought when you own everyone else.

        1. The act where they have gotten liquor and pension reform done to claim as victories? The pension reform Wagner will have to explain why he voted with Philadelphia dems against? Wagner is done without them having to goat him into being an ornery violent curmudgeon on camera again

          1. Liquor and Pension reform done with a republican majority in both chambers? Don’t know how you can own that as a victory to the Dems. Wolf is doing the obvious. He hasn’t done anything as our governor besides him (and Shady Katie McGinty) trying to raise our taxes, until now. He is going to try to make himself look like a moderate dem to try to push his Republican opponent as far right as possible (insert Wagner here) bc he thinks that this democratic “resistance” will hold until Nov. 2018. In reality, he is the most liberal governor in the country and a good solid Republican candidate SHOULD be able to win. All comes down to who wins the R’s primary.

  15. Wagner is the guy Dems are praying for. It is a dead cinch that he will commit some major gaffe – or get arrested – just when the campaign gets most tense. He is psychiatrically unstable, and I can’t wait for the powder keg to explode!

      1. All they have are their wet dreams. Trump will never be president. Trump won’t do this or that or this. All done. Reeeeeeee IMPEACH! Nope sorry kiddos. Wagner already has this in the bag unless we get a lot of dead people voting.

      2. Why? So Wagner can go by his house and assault him? Or send some goons to beat the guy up?

  16. Mango skipped voting in numerous elections, and lied to a reporter about it. He’s out. That’s leaves Wagner as clearly the best bet. Cawley carries all of Corbett’s luggage with him and we know how that works out.

    1. Cawley will be too smart to think he is going to beat Wolf after he passed Corbett’s agenda.

    1. I know reading comprehension is hard, but it would be impossible for a Libertarian to be the strongest REPUBLICAN gubernatorial candidate in the general election.

  17. No need for a poll to find out who is strongest. Set up a bench press and find out. 🙂

    1. I know reading comprehension is hard, but it would be impossible for a Libertarian to be the strongest REPUBLICAN gubernatorial candidate in the general election.

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    Total Voters: 30

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