By Dick Miller
WE.CONNECT.DOTS: …In 1978, Robert E. Casey –a Lt. Governor candidate — was one of 14 running for the same office. He was a schoolteacher and owned a Dairy Queen in a Pittsburgh suburb.
This Casey –a Lt. Governor candidate — was one of 14 running for the same office. He was a schoolteacher and owned a Dairy Queen in a Pittsburgh suburb.
He benefited from a similar name to another Robert Casey, Robert P. Casey, who had run and already lost for Governor in 1966, 1970 and ran and won auditor-general in 1968 and again 1972.
In 1978, the ‘real’ Bob Casey (Robert P. Casey) ran for Governor a third time in a Democrat primary also sporting Ernest P. Kline, then Lt. Governor, and Pete Flaherty, Pittsburgh Mayor. All three candidates were qualified, legitimate candidates.
Some voters may have been confused by the name similarities to the extent they believed they could vote for both Flaherty on the governor’s ballot and the ‘real’ Casey for Lt. Governor.
Flaherty won the governor primary and Casey, the ice cream parlor guy, captured Lt. Governor. Flaherty had little association with his ‘running mate’ in the fall battle and lost to governor to Dick Thornburgh.
The problem was (is) that in Pennsylvania primary voters pick their own candidates for governor and lieutenant governor independent of each other. At least in the race for US President the party’s nominee for the top office selects his/her choice for vice-president. This choice is almost always rubber stamped at a party convention. And the presidential and vice-presidential candidates are joined together on the ticket.
At least a few voters give some importance to who the second person on the ticket is. Due to death or resignation, that running mate has been quickly elevated to top dog in the government. In the presidential race we get to judge the presidential candidate – in part – on his/her choice for vice president.
Even though this issue is raised again with the last minute entry of Jay Paterno into the 2014 Democrat primary for PA Lt. Governor, there will be no discussion about re-tooling the selection process.
If legal challenges do not knock Paterno off the ballot, he will be a force to be reckoned with. In addition, few will come forth and remind Democrat Party activists that their leadership is out to lunch again.
Many believe Paterno has entered politics to help clear his father’s name in the Sandusky child molestation case.
With Democrats likely to win the governorship with or without Paterno, his talents and name recognition would have been more suited to knocking off a Republican in Congress or PA State Senate.
The Senate, where the Republicans hold a three-vote margin, is very critical. Given the hard partisanship of recent times, a GOP Senate will likely destroy a Democrat governor’s legislative agenda.
Candidates for Lt. Governor are required to submit 1,000 petition signatures with at least 100 coming from five different counties. Keystone Politics web site counted 1,117 signatures from 17 counties in Paterno’s filing of last week. Courts have strictly interpreted petition laws and serious candidates generally accumulate three or more times the necessary number to survive challenges.
Keystone Politics believes Paterno is in trouble with petitions for at least three of the five counties he needs to count. So does rival lieutenant governor candidate Brad Koplinksi, of Harrisburg. While the remaining four candidates will also benefit from Paterno off the ballot, they are leaving the challenge to Koplinski.
Koplinski stands to lose the most with Paterno remaining on the ballot because they are both from Central Pennsylvania. Paterno has never ran for nor held public office. He was a supporter of President Obama in 2008 despite his father being a life-long Republican.
Bottom Line: Pennsylvania is the only state where Republicans are down by a million voter registrations, yet the GOP still wins a majority of the offices. Some of the reasons are obvious.
Disclaimer: The writer plans to vote for Koplinski in the May 20 Democrat primary.
