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In 24th, Preston & Gainey talk Preston

Published by Karen Langley on .

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(Ed Gainey, left, campaigns door-to-door near a home with one of his yard signs.)

Knocking on doors ahead of the Democratic primary, state Rep. Joe Preston and challenger Ed Gainey were talking about one thing: Preston's years representing the 24th District in Harrisburg.

Gainey, who fell 93 votes short of Preston in the primary two years ago, spent last Saturday morning walking the neighborhood of Homewood, telling voters it was time for a change.

"Joe Preston's been in for 30 years," he said to one woman. "I was 13 when he took office. Thirty years later, I ask people do they know what Joe Preston's done in the last 30 years?"

In the afternoon, Preston, 64, climbed to the wide porches on several blocks in Wilkinsburg, where he signed pieces of campaign literature and lodged them by mailboxes. When he caught a voter home -- fewer of them were -- he didn't mention Gainey.

"I'm Joe Preston, your state representative," he said at one home. "You tell him I stopped by personally, OK?"

The race made news when more than half of the signatures on Preston's nominating petitions were withdrawn by the campaign or thrown out by a Commonwealth Court judge after challenges by Gainey. From 806 names originally submitted, Preston was left with 308 valid signatures -- just enough to meet the 300-signature requirement.

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Wagner: time for female AG candidate

Published by Laura Olson on .

From the lovely Tim McNulty, here's what the auditor general had to say about the attorney general candidate he's backing:

Auditor General Jack Wagner endorsed former Lackawanna prosecutor Kathleen Kane at a small press conference at PPG Place this afternoon, lauding her prosecution credentials (particularly on sex crimes) and saying it's time for the state to have its first female attorney general candidate. (Current Attorney General Linda Kelly was appointed.)

"It's about time after 32 years that we have a very competent, qualified person who incidentally is a woman, a professional woman, running for this position," Wagner said. "And I firmly believe also as a Democrat that she is the person most competent and most qualified, not just to serve but to win to serve. And that's been a difficult task for Democrats."

Kane's campaign released an internal poll Thursday showing her with a 9-point lead in the race, and said that supported her argument that she's better qualified than Murphy.

"People are really looking for qualifications. We saw what does not work in the office of Attorney General, and that's playing politics and ambitious politicians looking for their next job. It doesn't work. It colors prosecutions. That's not me," she said.

She also pushed back on Murphy's attack point on fights between her husband's trucking firm and organized labor, a key Democratic constituency. Murphy has been airing a negative ad reiterating that point, which he's also made in interviews and appearances, and pointing to her husband's significant donation to her campaign as making the labor disputes fair game.

"I do not talk about my opponent's spouse and I don't believe it's appropriate for him to talk about my spouse. I am not a shadow of my husband, "she said. "I think his message of bashing my husband does not resonate well with voters, particularly women."

 

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Dem write-in campaign for Pippy seat

Published by Tim McNulty on .

Democrats are launching a write-in campaign to get a former Pleasant Hills councilman on the 37th District state Senate ballot to face the winner of the nasty Sue Means, Mark Mustio, D. Raja GOP race in the South Hills.

Democrats didn't nominate a Democrat for outgoing state Sen. John Pippy's seat, so the state Democratic committee is sending mailers to South Hills Democrats urging them to type in the name of Greg Parks next Tuesday. Parks, a former teacher and Air Force vet, needs at least 500 valid write-ins for a chance to make the ballot.

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Mustio closing ad slams Raja for firing

Published by Laura Olson on .

It's closing pitch time, and the already-bloody state Senate battle between state Rep. Mark Mustio and businessman D. Raja has gotten even meaner.

The ad above from Mustio continues the outsourcing attacks from earlier TV spots, but this time interlaces snippets of Raja himself speaking. 

After repeated cuts of him saying, "I'm a businessman," the ad says he sent jobs overseas, was cited $133,000 for unnamed violations, and -- in another redux from the county executive race -- "sued an employee whose mother had cancer."

His company was involved in dozens of lawsuits with employees who left their positions without giving the advance notice required in their contract, including one ex-employee whose mother was sick, as City Paper reported in last year's contest.

On that claim, the ad features a shot of Raja answering questions from a television reporter after that story was published, saying his company "never sued anyone with cancer." Asked about a situation involving a particular employee who left his position due to a sick mother, he then says he was unaware that the employee's mother was sick when the suit was filed.

(Here are stories from WTAE and KDKA in which Raja was asked about the lawsuits after the City Paper story.)

The Raja campaign responded by describing the ad as "a new low."

"As Raja has gone door-to-door he has been encouraged by the outpouring of support from people who find Mark Mustio's attacks to be beyond disgusting and untrue," said campaign manager Jill Smith in a statement. "We remained focused on Raja's conservative vision for the future, and hope Mark Mustio will put an end to these vicious and baseless personal attacks."

When I went door-to-door with both campaigns recently, Raja would occasionally bring up the race's negative ads to a voter who appeared hesitant, and would offer a flyer disputing the claims about outsourcing. In a Whitehall neighborhood with Mustio, the ads only came up with one or two voters, who sounded disgruntled with political ads in general.

The Mustio camp may have offered a little foreshadowing of the ad last week -- his campaign Facebook page linked to this video on a YouTube page from Rich Fitzgerald's county executive bid. It features similar Raja clips on the employee with a sick mother.

That ad is not Mustio's complete final pitch to voters. PoliticsPA has posted another ad featuring more of Mustio himself, and hitting back on Raja's claim that he voted for the 2005 legislative pay raise.

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CookieGate: 7-Eleven responds

Published by Karen Langley on .

When Mitt Romney said he suspected a platter of Bethel Bakery cookies came from "the local 7-Eleven bakery or whatever," the landmark South Hills shop launched a "CookieGate" special. 

Today, 7-Eleven weighs in, with Margaret Chabris, director of corporate communications, sending over this statement:

Actually, Mitt Romney got it right – those cookies could have come from a 7-Eleven bakery.  More than 5,500 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. get cookies, donuts, muffins and other bakery items made fresh daily by 14 bakeries across the country that were developed for the purpose of serving 7-Eleven stores daily (365 days a year).  However, the 7-Eleven stores in the Pittsburgh area are operated by a company called Handee Marts Inc, an area licensee of 7-Eleven, Inc.  These stores do not have the fresh bakery delivered-daily program.

Four years ago, 7-Eleven also made Donkey and Elephant cookies during the presidential campaign as part our “7-Election” coffee campaign, which is more predictive than pundits and pollster on who will win the race.  We expect to do another 7-Election campaign this fall, and our licensees typically do participate. Stay tuned.

(Photo: adozeneggs.com)

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