Democrats for Pennsylvania Governor

After reviewing how the Republican primary is shaping up, here is the outlook for the Democratic primary for governor of Pennsylvania.

Since I wrote this post, almost a year ago, an additional prominent name has shown up in this race: Joe Hoeffel, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2004, who lost to then-Republican Arlen Specter. Hoeffel, 59, had earlier served in the U.S. House for three terms.

Don Onorato, county executive of Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, leads in some polls, but with a low percentage of a much-splintered vote. It appears to be a wide-open race between Onorato, Hoeffel, Auditor General Jack Wagner, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, and Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox.

The Democratic State Committee is scheduled to meet in Lancaster on February 5-6. According to this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that committee could endorse one of the candidates, which might give more clarity going into the May 18 primary. But a three-fourths supermajority is required for endorsement, so the committee might not reach a consensus among such a crowded field.

There has been some talk of Pennsylvania's junior senator, Bob Casey, Jr., seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, the office that his father held from 1987 to 1995. But there seems to be no concrete evidence of such a possibility.