Here is what you might have missed in Pa Gov news from the past week: Hanger took a stand against Third Way, Pawlowski is on a jobs tour, Schwartz picked up a union endorsement and Wolf released a senior healthcare plan.

John Hanger

The national debate surrounding the priorities of the Democratic party is becoming a point of contention in the Pa. Governor race. John Hanger, the most outspokenly progressive candidate, injected himself in to that debate this week.

Two leaders of Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, positioned themselves against “de Blasio-Warren” progressivism in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed on Monday, illuminating a riff within the party. When it was discovered that Allyson Schwartz is a co-chair of Third Way, the national Progressive Change Campaign Committee called on her to resign her role.

In response, John Hanger spoke out in support of the progressive wing of the party and against Third Way. His campaign released a state on Friday calling on Democrats to support social security expansion and break up the “Too Big To Fail” banks, the kind of policies that Third Way was cautioning against.

“To protect seniors, taxpayers and our economy, the six biggest financial institutions in America must be broken up so that we never again are in a situation, where taxpayers are bailing out the biggest, most wealthy corporations and their stockholders,” Hanger’s statement read.

While he refrained from attacking anyone within the Democratic party, Hanger did take a shot at Governor Corbett over Medicaid.

Ed Pawlowski

The Allentown Mayor is already on his second trip across the state this campaign cycle.

Ed Pawlowski is traveling around the commonwealth as part of his “Putting PA Back to Work” Tour. Pawlowski will travel to 15 counties as part of this tour, taking time to meet with residents and discuss priorities.

As reported by WSEE Erie, Pawlowski is also promoting a statewide jobs plan that is modeled off of the revitalization project he oversaw in Allentown.

“We’re losing our human capital because no jobs exist. We need to change that paradigm. That’s what we need to do in Pennsylvania, that’s why I’m on this listening tour,” Pawlowski said. “People need jobs. We need to rebuild our economy, we need to bring manufacturing, we need to bring job growth and development back into our state.”

When he first announced his candidacy in September, Pawlowski traveled to 23 counties in 9 days.

Allyson Schwartz

The SEPA Congresswoman added another labor endorsement to her resume this week.

The Ironworkers Local 401, representing Philadelphia, announced their support of Schwartz on Wednesday.

“I have always been proud to stand with the Ironworkers to protect the rights of workers to organize, earn fair wages, and achieve a secure retirement,” Schwartz said in response. “As Governor I look forward to continuing to stand with them as we work to bring real leadership that fights for working families to Harrisburg.”

Schwartz has also received the endorsements of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Pennsylvania State Council of Sheet Metal Workers, United Mine Workers of America, United Steel Workers Local 10-1, Boilermakers Local 19 and Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.

Tom Wolf

On Friday, the Wolf campaign released a plan to improve senior healthcare options.

The plan would both strengthen homecare options for seniors and also improve conditions for homecare workers. Included in the proposal is an expansion of Medicaid that would allow more seniors have access to home and community based care.

“We can no longer sit back and ignore the challenges facing our seniors,” Wolf said. “The commonwealth needs a leader who respects the preferences of this population and is willing to advocate for changes to our long-term care system, protect their retirement security, and act as a vocal defender of programs that protect seniors’ economic and health security.”

Read the full plan here.