Crowd vies for ‘best job’ in the state
HARRISBURG — Democrat Mike Stack just might be the most politically hunted lieutenant governor in modern Pennsylvania history.
Eight people are vying for his job — four from his own party — and come May 15, each hopes to make Mr. Stack the first lieutenant governor to lose re-election in a primary since the holder of the position was permitted two terms nearly half a century ago.
For Mr. Stack, a former state senator from Philadelphia elected the state’s second-in-command in 2014, it’s a chance to salvage a political career sullied last year by revelations that Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, had ordered an inquiry into complaints that Mr. Stack and his wife had verbally abused or otherwise mistreated employees. The inquiry’s findings have not been made public.
For Mr. Stack’s four Democratic competitors, it’s a chance
to snag what Harrisburg insiders only half-jokingly refer to as the state’s best job: It pays $163,672 annually, comes with a 2,400-squarefoot residence funded by taxpayers, and involves a fraction of the work and stress of the governor’s position.
Mr. Stack’s opponents are seeking to seize on an unusual political scenario in the Capitol: a chilly relationship between Mr. Wolf and Mr. Stack, who barely speak to each other. Mr. Wolf is not endorsing anyone.
That may-the-best-person-win attitude has cast a dash of intrigue into what often is an overlooked race. It also could mark a new entry in Pennsylvania’s history books if Mr. Stack is defeated while Mr. Wolf, who has no primary challenger, sails into the general election.
“This is not the norm,” said pollster and political science professor G. Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College. “After four years of serving together, you usually see the governor and the lieutenant governor as running for re-election as a team.”
The lieutenant governor, Mr. Madonna noted, “is a heartbeat away from the governor’s office. So you would think the governor would have a keen interest in the lieutenant governor’s race.”
Mr. Stack did not respond to an interview request.
Pennsylvania law does not allow governors to choose their running mates — although there is a bill in the Legislature to change that. So governor and lieutenant governor candidates do not run as a ticket in primaries, only in general elections.
The lieutenant governor has certain prescribed duties, including presiding over the 50-member state Senate and casting tiebreaker votes, if necessary, and chairing the Board of Pardons. But most of the candidates said they also want to tackle other social and fiscal issues.
Off to the races
Nina Ahmad, a former Philadelphia deputy mayor, said she would “restore integrity and accountability” and “give a voice to forgotten communities.” A former president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women, Ms. Ahmad also said she would bring diversity and inclusion to an elected executive position, which for decades have largely been held by men.
“I am a systems change person,” said Ms. Ahmad, “and that is what this position will allow me to do, working in concert with the governor: connecting with folks who feel marginalized.”
Kathi Cozzone, an accountant by trade and a Chester County commissioner for the past decade, said she wants to give counties more of a voice in the Capitol. She said she has been frustrated that the Legislature has reduced state funding for county services “to the most vulnerable in our communities.”
She said she also would seek to bring attention to women’s rights and better funding for public education, issues that Mr. Wolf has prioritized.
“The governor needs a partner he can work with,” she said.
John Fetterman, the Braddock mayor who ran, unsuccessfully, for U.S. Senate in 2016, stands apart for his height (6 foot 8), his black T-shirts and his tattoos marking the dates of homicides in the borough.
Mr. Fetterman bills himself as a progressive, which he says means “championing commonsense, evidence-based public policies that benefit the most people possible.” He’s been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and by various progressive groups. But the Pittsburgh chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, which has become increasingly active since Mr. Sanders’ presidential run, declined to endorse Mr. Fetterman.
Another Democratic challenger, Ray Sosa, a banker and insurance agent from Montgomery County, said he feels like he is “battling rock stars” in the primary.
If elected, Mr. Sosa said, he would work to improve emergency management and criminal justice, using the office to push for compulsory education for prisoners and post-prison opportunities to cut recidivism. Having grown up in a farming family, the Puerto Rico native said he also wants to work on assisting agriculture through subsidy reform and “taxation that is cropspecific.”
“I’ve seen very effective lieutenant governors in other states,” said Mr. Sosa, who moved to Pennsylvania from Florida nearly a decade ago. “We keep selecting people to these positions who are seeking something better. I think … I can make this position relevant.” Then there is Mr. Stack. In campaigning for reelection, the Philadelphian has stayed silent about the controversy surrounding his treatment of employees. Instead he has touted his political resume, built on nearly four years as lieutenant governor and another 13 as a state senator representing Northeast Philadelphia.
Campaign manager Marty Marks called Mr. Stack “a national role model in restorative justice,” noting that he launched the Pathway to Pardons program, which helps former offenders learn how to clear their criminal records and ease their path to employment. Mr. Marks said Mr. Stack also has worked to streamline the daunting process of obtaining a pardon.
Mr. Stack, he said, also established the lieutenant governor’s veterans task force to bring together mental health experts and others to help veterans battling opioid addiction and post traumatic stress disorder.
Despite reports of their estrangement, Mr. Stack supports Mr. Wolf’s policies and re-election, Mr. Marks said.
“He feels like he’s made the most of his opportunity in office,” Mr. Marks said. “He’s stayed in his lane as lieutenant governor, and also stayed in lockstep with Gov. Wolf and his policies.”
The GOP contest
Four Republicans are competing to appear on the November ballot. Two are running as a team with GOP contenders for governor.
Among those running as teams — despite the fact that they technically can’t do so until the fall election — is Jeff Bartos, a real estate executive from Lower Merion aligned with GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner of York. Together, they present themselves as anti-establishment candidates who would reform Harrisburg’s finances and do away with government regulations that they say hamstring businesses and choke economic development.
Mr. Bartos said Pennsylvania, with its natural resources, fertile farmland, well-established industries and ports, and cutting-edge universities, should be among the five fastest-growing states — a distinction, according to recent census figures, that largely belongs to states in the South and West.
“I want to be part of a leadership team that makes Pennsylvania an economic growth engine,” said Mr. Bartos, who together with Mr. Wagner has been endorsed by the state party.
Also part of a team for the primary is Diana Irey Vaughan, a Washington County commissioner campaigning alongside GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango. They pitch themselves as focused on promoting economic development and tempering the opioid crisis.
Ms. Irey Vaughan, pointing to several projects she coordinated with Washington County’s two other commissioners, said she believes she could be a stabilizing force in the Senate and “bring everyone together to work for the common good.”
Kathy Coder, a Republican State Committee member from Allegheny County, and Marguerite “Peg” Luksik, from Cambria County, are running on their own.
Ms. Coder said she chose to run for lieutenant governor in part to bring some diversity — namely, a woman — to the ballot.
Ms. Coder, who runs a business that offers leadership training and served on Bellevue Borough Council, said her first priority would be to gather Democrats and Republicans and outline a plan for issues they could work on together.
“We really need to stop this east-west [divide],” she said.
Ms. Luksik said her time living in various parts of the state — near Philadelphia and in Erie, Clarion, and Pittsburgh — helps her to understand the complexities of a diverse state.
Though she has run for public office before, including governor, she has yet to win.
If elected, she said, she would focus on developing lesser-known roles held by the lieutenant governor, such as serving at the helm of the state’s Local Government Advisory Committee.
“My whole history has been speaking for the little guy,” she said. “I’m 5 foot 2.”