A few days ago, Ed Rendell went out of his way to tell reporters that he would not endorse anyone in the Democratic primary for Governor.
But he said he would go through with an event already on his calendar a fundraiser for Ed Pawlowski’s bid for re-election as Allentown’s Mayor.
“My law firm agreed to host it. We had no idea he was going to declare for governor,” Rendell told Emily Opilo of the Allentown Morning Call on Thursday. “It put me, inadvertently, in a very uncomfortable position.”
But on Friday, an email from Ed Pawlowski’s gubernatorial campaign – not Pawlowski’s mayoral campaign – trumpeted that the former Guv had hosted a fundraiser for him.
Pawlowski’s spokesman said the event at the office of Ballard Spahr, the law firm where Rendell works in Philadelphia, raised $50,000. He noted that the money was meant to go to Pawlowski’s re-election campaign as Allentown Mayor.
The email to reporters came on the virtual letterhead of ‘Pawlowski for Governor,’ including a link to his gubernatorial website and the contact information of his gubernatorial campaign spokesman.
The same email boasted of another Philly fundraiser, hosted by Pennsylvania Housing Alliance Executive Director Liz Hersh, that was for his gubernatorial campaign.
Pennsylvania’s lax campaign finance laws make it possible for Pawlowski – who is running against only token opposition for his mayoral re-election – to transfer every dollar he raised Thursday night into his gubernatorial campaign.
“Governor Rendell has been a friend of mine for a long time, and he recognizes the success we have achieved in the transformation of Allentown,” Pawlowski said in the release. “I was honored that the Governor would host a fundraising event for me, and I greatly appreciate his friendship and continued support.”
Update: chastened, Pawlowski’s campaign issued the following clarification statement:
“Former Governor Ed Rendell hosted a fundraising reception for Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski’s MAYORAL re-election campaign last night at the law firm Ballard Spahr. The event did not serve as an endorsement for his 2014 Gubernatorial campaign.”
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5 Responses
JDF-
Thanks? 🙂
I’m one of the rare few here who has the confidence in his facts and courage of his convictions to post under his real name. I try to post with strong, bold statements. I’m more interested in being righteous than self-righteous.
Some days I think there are really only two people posting here. Me and someone who has a lot of aliases. 🙂
BTW, I’ve got to photoshop Pawlowski squeezing some Charmin. 🙂
I can read comments without reading the names and know that they are David Diano. I don’t even mean this as an insult as I agree with him somewhere around 30% of the time…just that you can always tell by the self righteous nature of the statements.
Dylan-
I think Big Ed was pissed off at the d*ck move by Little Ed to post the fundraising info on the Gov campaign site to make it look like a Gov endorsement.
Rendell obviously knows Pawlowski well enough to have held multiple fundraisers for the mayor. Rendell has to be completely oblivious if he didn’t think Pawlowski was running, which he’s been “hinting” at for months
Hardly a surprise move from a candidate who’s campaign tactics and cronies are not know for being pillars of ethics in the political community.