And The Winner Is......

"The Winner!"

May 20, 2014 - Tom Wolf is the winner of the Democratic primary! Looking at the polls, Wolf had won with a 57% voter turnout. It only took a huge chunk of his 14.5 million dollars to make sure of that! That ad of his really pulled in all the voters to his side didn't it?

The link to the article is here.

Some people put their input saying that they voted for Tom Wolf mainly because of his ad campaign, even the fact that he spent a lot of his own money played a factor. His main reason for running was because he has a lot of experience in life and Philadelphia needs a change. He really wanted to lay out a different course for Philly, whatever could that mean. He is going to be going up against Tom Corbett for Governor as it seems and looking at what happened with what he did with the schools, Wolf has a pretty good shot at winning. I guess we'll see what happens in the upcoming elections then

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Wolf and his Jeep

"The Jeep"

May 19, 2014 - The Jeep. Tom Wolf and his Jeep. The ad everyone was talking about when it first came out on Jan. 30. Even now in May, it still has a strong impact on the voting community for those who have yet to see it. It is definitely worth the time to go search for it now on Youtube! It really shows what kind of person Wolf is though then again you can see it's also the run of the mill promotional ad.

You can find the link to the article here

When Wolf declared his candidacy early in 2013, he also pledged to sink $10 million of his own money into his primary campaign, making him an immediate threat, despite his near-anonymity with voters. The ads put the money to work. Wolf’s cash advantage allowed him to begin airing daily TV ads seven weeks before his next primary competitor.  Looking at the ad he aired so early, people really related to it, they thought "What a nice guy". It really showed how much impact it had to the populace since he attacked so early. Looking back at the other races, you rarely see the same amount of impact this ad had on the voters. It was just tremendous, basically almost guaranteeing his spot as governor but it is not 100%. He should still be careful but then again, there is only a day left till the primary so we will see how it goes tomorrow!

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Katie McGinty, A Good Candidate

"Here she is!"

May 18, 2014 - Katie McGinty deserves to be remembered. Why you ask? It's because she was the only candidate not to air an ad against Tom Wolf when everyone else did. She only focused on promoting herself without attacking others. This type of person is the type of person that would be nice to vote for and not the other contestants that went to attack Wolf all together with ads.

The link to the article is here

As we come closer to the May 20 primary, Schwartz and McCord have continued their relentless assault on Wolf. McCord shamefully tries to paint Wolf as a racist or an apologist for a racist because of his honorary chairmanship of former York Mayor Charlie Robertson’s campaign many years ago. Other broadsides have raised unfounded innuendo about Wolf’s business history.

Instead of that nasty negativity, McGinty focuses in debates and TV ads on her ideas and on her experience (in the Clinton administration and as Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection secretary under former Gov. Ed Rendell.) 

She might be underfunded, and she might not win, but respect must be given to her for maintaining her dignity rather than be like McCord and Schwartz.

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The Battle Is Still On!

"Yeah. I'm not afraid."

May 17, 2014 - Tom Wolf really is just like "The Big Bad Wolf". He has eaten up the competition and kept the lead. It's crazy to think that a couple of months before no one knew who he was and then all of a sudden, he became the forerunner for the Democrats. Crazy ain't it?

You can find the article here.

This York County businessman stole the lead with the speed of a bird catching a fish? Or maybe a dog and a treat? Well, either way, through his abundant advertising early on he effectively took the lead and so far, none of the other contestants have gotten anywhere close to where he is now. Ever since January, he basically had the TV all to himself. Makes you wonder what the other contestants are doing sitting on their toes all day.

Then again, Katie McGinty was technically the first one to air an ad but it was modest, not pushing politics all day like Wolf. But he had the TV for the next weeks on end. The polls said his popularity skyrocketed, someone who almost no one knew turned into the forerunner for the Governor's election in weeks. WEEKS! This is the drive of Tom Wolf, who wants the win no matter what, even going to spend almost all of his 14.5 million dollars for his campaign. How would the rest of the candidates fare after this?

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The Education Deficit

"The Democrats"

May 15, 2014 - The four Democratic gubernatorial candidates have talked about their personal stories, their support for greater education funding, and finding ways to generate revenue. But judging by the warnings from credit rating agencies, the largest financial headache facing the commonwealth is what it owes in future pension payouts to state and school retirees. And when it comes to paying off that debt, the Democratic candidates aren't exactly bubbling over with ideas.

You can find the article here.

Education and the economy rank at the top of the list of issues voters say they care about according to several Pennsylvania polls this year.

The Democratic candidates for governor have taken notice, speaking at length about their plans to spend more money on schools by raising taxes on natural gas drilling. A far less sexy topic for these candidates is shoring up the state's public pension systems, though it's a problem that actuaries say should be front and center.

For candidates, solving education budget shortfalls is a roughly $1 billion problem in a $28 billion budget.The future obligation hanging out there on state and school worker pensions is underfunded by about $47 billion - and that's a growing figure.

The state's legally-required, scheduled payments into those funds are also steadily ticking upward every year for the next couple decades. Republican incumbent Governor Tom Corbett has called rising pension costs a Pac Man, threatening to eat up the rest of the budget. Is it possible to fix our increasing amount of debt with a new governor in charge? Only time will tell.

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Survey says....Tom Wolf!

"Governor Wolf?"

May 14, 2014 - Everything seems futile to Democratic forerunner Tom Wolf. With the primary coming up really soon, surveys show that Tom Wolf has the overwhelming majority behind him. He has roughly double of the closest competitor and that's saying something. Is there any chance to take the race from him?

You can find the link to the article here.

Among all registered voters surveyed by F&M, Mr. Wolf had 33 percent support, followed by U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Montgomery County, 14 percent; state Treasurer Rob McCord, also of Montgomery County, 9 percent; and Katie McGinty of Chester County, former state environmental secretary, 5 percent. In the Harper Poll of likely voters, Mr. Wolf fared even better, with 50 percent; followed by a McCord-Schwartz tie at 15 percent and 5 percent for Ms. McGinty. With the results of both of these polls, it's kinda hard not to see how the election will pan out. It looks like Wolf is going to win by a landslide. Like I had mentioned before, is it possible to overtake this kind of lead?

In January, before his commercials hit the airwaves, Mr. Wolf was largely unknown statewide and an also-ran in a then larger Democratic field. Now, he is not just the most popular candidate, he is by far the best known and posted the strongest ratio of favorable to unfavorable opinions.

Note that Mr. Wolf’s lead appeared solid in that 54 percent of his supporters said they were “certain” to vote for him Tuesday. A majority of the Schwartz voters also said they were certain of their choice, while smaller proportions of the McCord voters, 40 percent, and McGinty voters, 26 percent, were similarly committed to their choice.

The Democratic voters were most likely to cite education as the most important problem in the state, followed by unemployment, 20 percent. They were also deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the state; 72 percent said Pennsylvania was on the wrong track, while just 20 percent said it was headed in the right direction.

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Candidates Spending Big

"All that money!"

May 10, 2014 - The four would-be challengers to Corbett have collectively raised $35.5 million and spent $31.1 million through Monday, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday, with 11 days left in the campaign. Really? Where does this all come from? Makes you wonder why they are spending this type of money on getting elected instead of something else like schools. Well enough about that, let us move on!

The link to the article is here!

In the upcoming May 20 primary election, the governor's candidates seem likely to outspend every other governor's race there were. What would the reason be for the huge amount of spending? Corbett had filled up his stash of cash without the pressure of a primary opponent. He has raised $14.6 million, including $3.5 million left over from 2012, and had $6.3 million on hand even after airing $2 million worth of recent TV spots, his report says.

"Democratic front-runner Tom Wolf, who contributed $10 million to his campaign, spent an average of $1 million a week on television advertising during the five weeks covered by the latest reports." With Wolf taking the initiative, the TV ads he aired gave him a leg-up. Wolf is a first-time candidate for elected office and has already spent nearly $13 million of the $14.5 million that he has raised. Wolf really wants to pull ahead and leave everybody chasing after him.

State Treasurer Rob McCord reported spending all but about $668,000 of the $8.5 million he has raised in his campaign. He also is carrying $2.65 million in unpaid debts. Looking at how much McCord is spending on his campaign, it makes you wonder if he is really trying to win. What is he saving the money for? Where did his debts come from anyway? Kinda fishy if you ask me.

Schwartz reported spending about $7.5 million of the $8.8 million she has raised. This is a hefty amount of money but will it help her pull ahead of Wolf?

Katie McGinty, a former state environmental protection secretary, spent nearly a half-million dollars on television ads and spent another $300,000 to repay some of the personal loans she made to the campaign, her report says. In my personal opinion, I do not think the little spenders have much chance against those who spend a lot of money, maybe its just me but TV ads make a huge difference.

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