Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Wolf wins 2nd term as Pa. governor

- By Marc Levy

HARRISBURG >> Tom Wolf won a second term as Pennsylvan­ia governor on Tuesday, beating brash Republican challenger Scott Wagner and sending the Democrat back for another four years to share power with a GOP-controlled Legislatur­e.

Wolf has said he will continue advancing his first-term priorities, including trying to fix funding inequities in public schools and seeking to impose a severance tax on the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry. But he will be up against Republican lawmakers who fought two extended budget battles with him and blocked many of his top priorities.

Even so, Wolf’s re-election will give Democrats a seat at the table for the first time in 30 years when Pennsylvan­ia draws a new map of congressio­nal districts after the 2020 Census.

Wolf, speaking to supporters in York on Tuesday night, said Pennsylvan­ians voted for a state “that has a really bright future” and “for a public service that actually has integrity, that you can trust.” He pledged to make schools better, keep accessible health care and the economy strong and to protect seniors and women.

The incumbent ran what analysts called a conservati­ve campaign designed to limit mistakes and take advantage of Wagner’s liabilitie­s. Wolf refused to debate Wagner more than once, and his campaign worked to capitalize on Wagner’s penchant for eyebrowrai­sing off-the-cuff comments. That included advising Wolf last month to put on a catcher’s mask because “I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes.”

The two candidates were studies in contrast. Wolf is soft-spoken and chooses his words carefully. When Wagner announced his candidacy, he declared, “I am going to be the next governor, take that to the bank.”

Wagner, a 63-year-old former state senator who made millions from his garbagehau­ling business, mostly selffinanc­ed his campaign. He had promised to cut taxes and rein in an out-of-control state government. But he fought an unexpected­ly bruising and expensive three-way primary, and spent considerab­le time trying to walk back previous comments he had made, including criticisms public schools and teachers.

Meanwhile, Wolf heavily outraised him, with help from labor unions that Wagner had made the target of some of his sharpest criticisms.

Wolf, 69, ran his family’s building products company for most of three decades before becoming governor in 2015, except for a short stint as Pennsylvan­ia’s revenue secretary.

He has been a champion for liberal causes, including imposing an effective moratorium on the death penalty, defending Pennsylvan­ia’s expansion of Medicaid under the 2010 federal health care law known as “Obamacare” and blocking legislatio­n that would have curtailed abortion rights.

Joining Wolf as lieutenant governor will be John Fetterman, the Braddock mayor whose efforts to improve the impoverish­ed town over the past 13 years drew national attention and made him a media darling. Fetterman beat sitting Lt. Gov. Mike Stack in a five-way Democratic primary in May.

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