Beware: Pennsylvania Right-Winger Mulling Bid for Governor and Says that a Senate Run Is "Back On The Table"

Whichever Choice He Makes, The Time To Organize For Fairness & Equality For All Is Now!

from the Morning Call:

Former Lehigh Valley Congressman Pat Toomey has decided against a repeat run for Senate in 2010, turning instead toward a possible bid for governor as he reaches out to Republicans statewide to assess his potential candidacy next year.

Toomey, president of the anti-tax group The Club for Growth, is scheduled to sit down with several influential and deep-pocketed Lehigh Valley Republicans in early February to “discuss his thinking of a possible gubernatorial run,” according to an e-mail invitation sent out Friday on behalf of Arcadia Properties founder Richard Thulin.

He has also put calls out statewide to supporters this week with the aim of raising money to do some preliminary polling.

At the same time, Toomey has dropped consideration of a repeat run for Senate in 2010.

In a statement, Toomey said he has had “several preliminary conversations with supporters of mine regarding a possible run for governor in 2010.”

“Given the state of Pennsylvania’s economy and the disastrous state budget deficits we face, there certainly is a need for major changes in Harrisburg,” Toomey said. “It is still very early in my exploration of a possible run but it is something I will consider.”

The move comes as the field on both sides of the aisle deepens well in advance of the 2010 primaries.

A half-dozen Democratic and Republican candidates have been laying the groundwork for gubernatorial bids, including Democratic Lehigh County executive Don Cunningham and Allegheny County executive Dan Onorato as well as Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, state attorney general Tom Corbett and former U.S. attorney Pat Meehan.

Toomey, a former restaurant owner and banker, has long expressed interest in making another statewide bid. Until recently, he had left the door open for a repeat run for Senate next year — he narrowly lost to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the GOP primary in 2004 — but Republicans who have spoken with Toomey in recent weeks say he has turned his attention towards a run for governor.
Political observers point to Toomey’s fundraising talent and conservative appeal as assets that would likely prove formidable in a GOP primary.

“He is extremely popular with the conservative base,” said Pittsburgh-based GOP consultant Bill Green. “He has proven he can run a superb campaign. He's got all the tools, there is no doubt about that.”

Because of his previous Senate run and four-year stint leading the Club for Growth, Toomey has access to a large national network of donors that could help him quickly raise large sums of money in a governor’s race, where candidates are not limited by the size of individual donations.

But it’s unclear how widely known he is within the Pennsylvania electorate, even after he won 49 percent of the vote in his race against Specter in 2004.

Toomey On The Issues

* Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
* Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
* Rated 13% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)

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And this from GrassrootsPA:

TOOMEY: SENATE RUN ‘BACK ON THE TABLE’


GrassrootsPA has learned that former Congressman Pat Toomey, the current Club for Growth President, just announced this morning on Bobby Gunther Walsh’s 1-On-1 Show, WAEB, 790AM, that a Primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter is ‘now back on the table’…

UPDATED TEXT OF RON SHEGDA EMAIL RELAYING TOOMEY REMARKS ON SHOW:

Former Congressman Pat Toomey (R, PA-15), current Club for Growth President, just announced on Bobby Gunther Walsh’s 1-On-1 Show, WAEB, 790AM, that a Primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter is “now back on the table.”

Mr. Toomey acknowledged that “Senator Specter cast the deciding vote on the very worrisome stimulus Bill, when he could have negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama for more productive tax cuts and less wasteful spending.” Pennsylvanians need to do some soul searching about who will really represent us in the Senate.

Pat Toomey would not be the 100th Person in the Senate. He would serve Pennsylvania through principled leadership and with acute thinking. As an entrepreneur, former investment banker, business owner, Congressman, co-founder of a local Lehigh Valley bank, and national policy leader, Mr. Toomey will give instant credibility and acumen to banking and finance issues on Capitol Hill. He is a fiscal and social Conservative.

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Whichever Choice He Makes, The Time To Organize For Fairness & Equality For All Is Now!