Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski, former Congressman Mark Critz, State Senator Mike Stack, Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, former PSU assitant football coach Jay Paterno and Harrisburg city adviser Brenda Alton took the stage to debate progressive issues in their quest for the Democratic nomination for Lietunant Governor.

Two, in particular, emerged from the pack as ready and prepared to be the Lieutenant Governor – Koplinski and Stack.

Stack talked about his experience in the State Senate, where he’s been for the last 13 years, fighting for progressive issues, he said.

“I was fighting Tom Corbett before it was cool,” he said, making the claim that he was the progressive hipster in the bunch.

“Tom Corbett hasn’t met an underdog that he hasn’t wanted to kick under the bus,” he continued. “In his first week in office, he wanted to get rid of the Adult Basic program.”

A question about the General Assembly’s Women’s Health Caucus was perfectly suited to his experience and he was able to talk about the progress of the bills.

Koplinski was also able to provide substantative answers, based on his experience as a Harrisburg City Councilman and then working in the Department of Justice, under the Civil Rights Department.

All of the candidates agreed that voting reforms were needed to increase ballot access, but Koplinski stood out here as well with an answer that earned a few chuckles from the audience that was chowing down upon free boxed lunches.

“We’re behind the times here in PA,” he said. “We’re like the wild west on campaign finance reform.”

There were brief fireworks, as expected, between the progressive audience and a stage full of candidates who were unwilling to support a fracking moratorium – all but Alton and Koplinski.

“There are economic benefits, but at what costs?” she asked.

Koplinski’s support of the moratorium was conditional – that new wells were banned until there was thorough research on what was going into the water. In the event that fracking could be done safely, he proposed a high severance tax, even on par with the 24% extraction tax found in Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

The other candidates qualified their “no’s” on the moratorium by mentioning the important economic impacts of the industry, which was of particular interest to Smith, who hails from Bradford County, the largest producer of natural gas.

“It’s been a tough issue for me. I have a lot of experience on the issue from the economic to environmental side,” Smith explained. “I want to see DEP fully funded and on the flip side, I want to see that we are developing our economy and creating jobs.”

The forum seemed to stumble Critz a bit, who answered that he wasn’t sure to at least two of the questions and then made the assertion that the Lt. Gov. existed solely as a tool in the governor’s tool box, but that he was able to help the ticket win in the general election and would learn about the office before he took it.

Critz was able to talk a great deal about his campaign experience and the following that he has in Southwest PA, underrepresented on the dais today as State Rep. Brandon Neuman could not attend. After running in four multi-million dollar campaigns in the area, Critz believes that advantage will be a major boost to the electability of the Democratic ticket.

But Alton pointed out her unique advantages to the ticket as well, striking chords with the audience by pointing out that she was the only woman and African American on the stage and therefore had overcome immense adversity.

Paterno gave many vague answers to questions as the newest entrant into the field, but made a strong pitch on his devotion to public service, citing the influence of his mother in molding him into someone actively involved in education and charity.

“The only reason you should get into politics is to help people in trouble,” he told the audience, riffing off of a John F. Kennedy quote.

Speaker Smith

Despite announcing his retirement earlier this year, Speaker Sam Smith (R-Jefferson) earned a new accolade this week.

Smith was named the 2014 Chairman of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee.

The Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC) is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to electing Republicans to state legislatures, started in 2003. The RLCC provides financial training and strategic assistance to state legislatures, ensuring that candidates are equipped with the tools necessary to run effective and efficient campaigns, including campaign training schools in key states across the country.

According to the RLCC website, as Chairman, Smith’s goal will be to help states nationwide retain or gain a Republican majority in state legislatures as he did in Pennsylvania in 2010.

Smith was first elected to the General Assembly in 1986, succeeding his father, L. Eugene “Snuffy” Smith, who represented the 66th Legislative District from 1963 to 1985.

He announced his retirement earlier this month, and his 2012 challenger was already announced to run in the seat, Cris Dush. The seat encompasses parts of Armstrong, Indiana and Jefferson Counties. It’s deeply red, 55.1% GOP to 35.1% Dem.

Alton

Former advisor to the city of Harrisburg Brenda Alton was conspicuously absent from the recent Harper Poll put out for the Pa. Lt. Governor race, something Alton took notice of immediately.

“I find this omission to be inappropriate, unfair, and undemocratic. All candidates should be treated equally and assumed viable until May 20. What the poll did discover was that 48% of the electorate was undecided, which isn’t surprising, because the one female and African American candidate in the race was ignored,” said Alton.

The poll revealed that former Penn State football assistant coach Jay Paterno led the group with 17%. Former Congressman Mark Critz came in close behind at 16%, and none of the other candidates were able to break into double digits. As Alton mentioned, nearly half of those surveyed were undecided. With such a large demographic answering as undecided, it is quite possible that Alton’s exclusion had a decent effect on the results of the poll.

“I joined this race to appeal to that 48% and to place people before politics,” Alton said.“Clearly politics are involved in the polling when every candidate isn’t given the opportunity to be represented to potential voters”.

Harper Polling declined to comment.

Along with Alton, Paterno and Critz, Lt. Governor candidates include State Rep. Brandon Neuman, State Senator Mike Stack, Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski and Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith.

Rep. Davidson

A poll commissioned by Rep. Margo Davidson (D-Delaware) shows her with a huge lead over her challenger, Billy Smith.

In the poll executed by Municipoll, Davidson took 56% of the vote, compared to Smith’s 13%. 31% were still undecided on their choice in the Democratic primary. Dafan Zhang, another competitor in the field was not polled.

Davidson’s favorability rating was also high in these results; 53% said they had a favorable view, 13% said unfavorable and 34% weren’t sure.

“The survey reflects Margo’s hard work, dedication and commitment to serving the people of the district,” Shannon Marietta, Davidson’s campaign manager said. “She will continue to work hard and speak to voters about their concerns and hopes for the future.”

Smith remains mostly an unknown at this point; 16% said they had a favorable view, 13% said they had an unfavorable view and the majority, 71%, said they didn’t know or weren’t sure.

He remains undeterred by the results of this poll.

“The last several months I’ve knocked on doors and spoken with over two thousand voters,” Smith told PoliticsPA. “These voters tell me that they care about fully funding our public schools, keeping school vouchers out of our communities, defending women’s reproductive rights, and fighting Tom Corbett’s extreme agenda – that’s exactly what I intend to do as State Representative.”

Davidson has held the seat since 2011, but has made several high profile votes against Democrats, including on the issues of abortion and school vouchers. Fellow Democratic Rep. Brian Sims endorsed Smith over Davidson in this primary.

Municipoll conducted a district-wide survey of 664 likely Democratic Primary Election voters on behalf of the Margo Davidson for State Representative campaign. The poll was conducted February 2 – 6, 2014 using IVR technology and has a margin of error of +/- 3.75 percent in 95 out of 100 cases.

As always, internal polls should be taken with a grain of salt and this polling memo was not accompanied by the survey instrument in full, or cross tabulations.

Reps. Readshaw and Molchany

After each period of redistricting, a situation usually arises wherein two incumbent lawmakers of the same party find themselves living in the same district. It is a great way for the opposing party to reduce the number of seats for the afflicted party and instigate a heated primary battle between sitting legislators.

Just such an occasion is developing in Pennsylvania’s 36th House district where Democratic State Reps. Erin Molchany and Harry Readshaw finds themselves opposing one another for the same Allegheny County seat.

Technically speaking, Molchany’s 22nd District moved to Lehigh County and she was bumped into Readshaw’s.

Rep. Readshaw has a number of advantages, including his experience (he has served in the State House since 1995) and the electoral landscape (72% of voters in the new 36th district were once part of Readshaw’s district compared to only 21% who lived in Molchany’s).

Still freshman Rep. Molchany holds the financial advantage, edging out her opponent in year-end cash on hand totals by a $70,000 to $66,000 margin. Molchany has also received donations from some local heavyweights including Mayor Bill Peduto.

So, with such a competitive race on our hands, we ask you the readers who do you think will win the race for HD-36?

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Candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith responded to Governor Tom Corbett’s “Everywhere” ad with his own web video today.

In it, Smith talks about his rocky childhood and how his family was able to get by with help from the state through school lunch programs and food banks.

“And the only reason I’m here today,” Smith says, “is because Democrats fought for kids like me.”

Then he moves on to his job as Bradford County Commissioner.

“Fast forward, and you’re looking at the youngest commissioner elected in Bradford County history and the top vote-getter in a 2-to-1 Republican county,” Smith says over shots of him working as commissioner and occasionally playing an electric guitar.

The two-term commissioner talks about what he accomplished as chairman, including passing budgets and creating jobs. Smith also talks about his beliefs, including common sense gun laws, the right to choose for women, and how his support of gay marriage got him kicked out of his Christian rock band.

“I’m not a conservative, I’m the progressive choice,” Smith says to the camera.

In a separate statement, Smith bashed Corbett’s latest ad.

“In his latest desperate attempt to court the voters of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett stated that he went to Harrisburg and ‘made a difference. He’s cut $1 billion from our public education system, tried to privatize our lottery which benefits our senior citizens, refused to appropriately tax the natural gas, and defunded our social programs that help many Pennsylvanians.”

Smith said he is a proud product of public education, and wants to make sure that every child in Pennsylvania gets the opportunity to succeed.

“We need leaders who will lead by picking people up, not by leaving them behind,” said Smith. “Harrisburg needs to focus on creating Pennsylvania jobs and strengthening our economy by investing in universal pre-k, our public schools, transportation and infrastructure.”

This is Smith’s first ad for his campaign for lieutenant governor.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Smith faces Senator Mike Stack, Rep. Mark Critz, Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski, State Rep. Brandon Neuman, former PSU assistant football coach Jay Paterno and Harrisburg advisor Dr. Brenda Alton.

Josephs

In April 2012, Brian Sims defeated long-time Representative Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia) in the Democratic primary.

He won by just 235 votes, and with no general election opponent became the first openly gay representative elected in the state of Pennsylvania.

It was a bitter affair. Sims formerly worked on her campaigns. LGBT groups supported Sims despite the fact that Josephs was the most outspoken ally of the gay community in the House (the district includes Philly’s Gayborhood).

According to several sources close to the House Democrats, Josephs is preparing for a rematch.

UPDATE: Babette confirmed to Philly Daily News’ Chris Brennan that she is running.

Several Democratic sources said Josephs is receiving encouragement from some of her former colleagues.

In his ongoing efforts to build a statewide coalition in the House, Sims has been direct in his support for primary opponents to some of his colleagues. He endorsed Jared Solomon, who is running against Rep. Mark Cohen (D-Phila) and Billy Smith over Rep. Margo Davidson (D-Delaware).

In the 13th congressional district primary, Sims backed state Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) over his colleague, state Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Phila).

Two Democrats close to the Philadelphia delegation said Josephs is being encouraged to run by Cohen, Davidson and Boyle. Boyle and Davidson dismissed the suggestion.

Boyle’s campaign denies that there has been any recruiting or involvement in the race.

“Margo is focused on her district and her voters,” Davidson’s campaign manager Shannon Marietta told PoliticsPA. “Instead of focusing on insider gossip, we are focused on the issues of her district – like raising the minimum wage, new job growth and fighting for the underprivileged.”

Cohen declined to comment.

One Philadelphia Democratic operative said Sims’ political maneuvers had opened the door for a challenge.

“It’s very unusual for one incumbent to pick fights with so many of their colleagues,” he said. “I don’t know if [Boyle, Cohen and Davidson] are involved with Babette’s decision, but I can’t say I’d blame them if they were.”

Speaker Smith

Speaker Sam Smith (R-Jefferson) sent a farewell shot across the bow at his conservative foe, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Smith announced his retirement last week, and CAP Executive Director Leo Knepper suggested to several news outlets that it was because he was about to face a competitive primary.

His 2012 opponent Cris Dush entered the Republican primary this year, and Smith narrowly beat him two years ago when there was another Republican in the race as well.

“Let me be very clear and set the record straight. ln 2012 l admittedly took my challenge less than seriously and barely ran a campaign. To be frank, I won without really trying,” Smith’s letter reads. “Unfortunately for your “organization” in the build up to this year’s election, I was committed to not making that mistake again.”

Knepper isn’t buying it.

“He’s saying that his retirement has absolutely nothing to do with any outside pressure that he’s receiving and then he goes on a three page missive attacking our organization? I don’t quite think that’s the whole story,” Knepper told PoliticsPA.

CAP has encouraged anti-establishment, conservative purists against incumbent Republicans before and regularly engages in marketing efforts to blast incumbents for votes with which they disagree.

Smith, on the other hand, had a reputation for being a more moderate, compromising Republican while he was the Speaker of the House.

“l’ll leave you with two pieces of advice not from me but from two fathers of modern conservatism. William Buckley once said, “idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, its costs become prohibitive.” Barry Goldwater said “We don’t gain anything when you get rnad at a candidate because you don’t agree with his every philosophy.”’ Smith writes. “Perhaps you should think about those two and stop dividing the GOP and start going after the people who disagree with our agenda, the Democrats.”

Unsurprisingly, Knepper disagrees with this point as well.

“[He says] we should be going after Democrats rather than Republicans, and that’s an absurd argument,” Knepper argues. “When you look at the expansions of government that have taken place, they’ve been with Republicans leading the charge or aiding and abetting someone like Ed Rendell.”

A poll commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation and conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research found that union members and households support a policy that union leaders loudly oppose.

Paycheck Protection is shorthand for policies that prohibit automatic deductions from union members’ paychecks to pay union dues. As the law currently stands, government employee union dues are automatically paid via state government payroll services, much like the way taxes are deducted.

Unions won the ability to automatically deduct at the bargaining table and argue that it directly impacts their ability to operate.

The Commonwealth Foundation poll found that, of union households, 80% don’t think taxpayer resources should be used to collect campaign contributions, 72% think unions should collect dues themselves, and 58% support paycheck protection legislation.

88% of respondents said their dues were automatically deducted.

“These survey results demonstrate union members themselves don’t want to be a part of the misuse of taxpayer resources,” said Matthew Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation.

The Commonwealth Foundation is a self-described free market think tank that supports conservative economic policies. Susquehanna Polling and Research is a Republican polling firm.

In the case of any poll commissioned by an interest group, the results should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center was not entirely convinced by the findings.

“This is really about weakening the voice of working families and lowering the wages of all workers, non-union as well as union. That’s why bills like this are often called “right to work for less,’” Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center and economist Stephen Herzenberg told PoliticsPA. “It’s easy to get lost in the weeds on this issue, which makes credible polling difficult. What is clear is that once voters understand that this is another power grab by folks who want the top 1% to have more economic and political clout, they will oppose it.”

The poll uses charged language favored by the Commonwealth Foundation. For example, the pollster asked:

“Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘A law preventing unions from using public resources to collect dues from its members will empower individual teachers and workers to have greater control over how their money is spent on politics’.”

65% agreed, compared to 25% who disagreed.

Had a union or left-leaning group commissioned the poll, the question might have sounded closer to this “Would you support an effort by Republican lawmakers to suppress the ability of your union to operate?”

The results weren’t entirely anti-union; 75% of respondents said that their union represents their interests some or most of the time.

50% of respondents belonged to public sector unions, 46% to private sector and 4% to both. 80% of them had belonged to the union for 10 or more years.

Respondents were typically older; 28% over 65, 31% between 55-64, 24% between 45-54.

SP&R polled 401 union households from 2/6 – 2/9 via landlines and cell phones. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.88%.