Saccone at odds with GOP

Lauding Democrat for clean campaign irks party chairman

Outgoing Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone’s tacit endorsement of a Democrat for his House seat put him at odds with his party’s state chairman — a conflict that spilled out into Republican email inboxes a day before Tuesday’s election.

In a letter distributed to members of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County and other area Republican leaders before the election, Pennsylvania GOP chairman Val DiGiorgio blasted Mr. Saccone for recording a robocall criticizing Republican Mike Puskaric, labeling it a “troubling breach of faith by someone who has long enjoyed the support of our party.”

But Mr. Saccone, calling the

chairman’s letter “terrible” in an email of his own to Republicans, said his robocall rightfully knocked Mr. Puskaric for negative and false campaigning, and he said it was a stand on behalf of his neighbors and friends in the 39th state House District.

The emails, obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, were exchanged in GOP circles in the days before Mr. Puskaric beat Democrat Rob Rhoderick by about 2,000 votes to succeed Mr. Saccone, who has held the seat since 2011.

The robocall in question stopped short of endorsing Mr. Rhoderick, but in it, Mr. Saccone said he hoped voters would consider that the Democrat ran “a positive campaign” — while Mr. Puskaric campaigned on telling “false hoods”in his advertisements.

“This reflects poorly on his character,” Mr. Saccone said in the call. “Lie to get elected, you will lie in office. Haven’t we had enough of that?”

Taking issue with Mr. Saccone’s “ingratitude and betrayal,” Mr. DiGiorgio wrote to Republicans that they should remember it the next time he asks for support from the party — a party that he claimed “never broke faith” with Mr. Saccone, even after losses in two separate races this year.

“Rick’s decision to abandon the party that gave him his state legislative career is a meaningless act of bitterness unworthy of a Republican standard-bearer past or future,” DiGiorgio wrote.

But Mr. Saccone fought back against the chairman’s claim that his robocall had anything to do with his losses — first, in a high-profile special election for the 18th Congressional District in March, then in a Republican primary for the 14th Congressional District in May.

Alleging that the chairman never called him before sending the email, Mr. Saccone said his actual motive was to promote a candidate who made his case on facts, qualifications and experience. Plus, he had known Mr. Rhoderick, an Elizabeth Township commissioner and former school board member, for years, he said.

When asked for an interview, Pennsylvania GOP spokesman Jason Gottesman said the letter “speaks for itself” and the party had no further comment.

The letter’s focus on old wounds, though, rekindled an argument about the party’s involvement in Mr. Saccone’s races. Mr. DiGiorgio said the party contributed “countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars on Rick’s behalf” ahead of the March specia lelection against Democrat Conor Lamb.

But after his May loss, Mr. Saccone alleged the Republican establishment didn’t unite around him, theorizing that it didn’t want real conservatives to be nominated or take office.

Mr. Saccone said during his elections, he had been a victim of negative campaigning, a tactic that “disqualifies a person from public office.” He claimed Mr. Puskaric “slighted” him and his record in Harrisburg during his campaign, too.

Mr. Puskaric, a 29-yearold title insurance agent from Elizabeth, ran on his belief that the district had been forgotten in terms of business development and infrastructure. His ads, which Mr. Saccone alleged were full of falsehoods, deemed himself a “fresh voice for reform in the state House” and hit his opponent for increasing spending.

“Remember, it is an honor to win but more important to win with honor,” Mr. Saccone wrote in his email to Republicans, while Mr. DiGiorgio countered that Mr. Saccone “threw aside his own professed core values to take this action.”

Mr. Puskaric could not be reached for comment.