Alex Roarty over at PoliticsPA has a fine piece this morning on how Allegheny County's own Jim Burn might not be a shoo-in for state party chair, as his buddy Dan Onorato has declined to endorse him.  

Typically, the party's Democratic nominee for governor chooses who he wants as the party's chairman at its summer meeting. When Onorato, Allegheny County's chief executive, won the nomination in May it was widely expected he would pick his longtime ally Burn to fill the role.

But a spokesman for the candidate made clear in an interview Onorato doesn’t plan to play king-maker.

“There’s a process for selecting a chairman, and he supports that process,” said campaign spokesman Brian Herman.

Asked why Onorato wasn’t backing Burn as many had expected, Herman reiterated that the party’s nominee “respects” how state committee selects its chairmen.

Burn faces Montgomery County Chairman Marcel Groen and former Armstrong County state committee member Chuck Pascal, each of whom confirmed to PoliticsPA on Thursday that they are still seeking the chairmanship. He also might face opposition from incumbent Chairman T.J. Rooney, who despite publicly announcing earlier this week he wouldn’t run for a third term is said, according to Democratic sources, to still be receiving pressure from Governor Ed Rendell to retain his job through November.

Alex's full story is here.

UPDATE: 4:07 p.m. our colleague from across the state at the Inquirer, Tom Fitzgerald, reports that Rooney definitely will not run for the state chair post again.