Corbett of Pa. lags among Republican governors
Thwarted agenda, low ratings hurt his re-election bid
Pennsylvania is a big state, but from wherever Republican Gov. Tom Corbett stands, the view is bleak. To the east is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP star and presidential contender despite his recent troubles over a bridge scandal. On the western border, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been mentioned as a 2016 possibility along with other GOP governors such as Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
Then there’s Corbett, whose 36% approval rating makes him the most unpopular governor in the 13 states the Quinnipiac Poll surveys. Political handicappers rate his race for re-election a tossup or worse: The Rothenberg Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter, gives Corbett the worst odds of all GOP governors up for re-election this year. Corbett could be the first Pennsylvania governor not re-elected since the state began allowing twoterm governors in 1968.
“I think that even the Green Party candidate could probably beat Gov. Corbett one-on-one this year,” says Michael Morrill of Keystone Progress, a liberal advocacy group. Democrats clearly think Corbett is beatable: There are seven contenders for the Democratic nomination to oppose him.
Corbett’s troubles started early; when faced with a $4.2 billion deficit, his budget cuts forced teacher layoffs and reduced county social service programs. He imposed an asset limit for people receiving food stamps. This year, he proposed expanding Medicaid to cover the uninsured but wanted to require recipients to prove they were searching for work. He has since backed off the proposal.
“He proposed cuts to very popular programs,” says political scientist G. Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. “His job performance (approval) drops and he doesn’t recover.”
Other Republican governors elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave have faced trouble. Wisconsin’s Walker faced a recall — he survived — and Florida Gov. Rick Scott is in a tough re-election race against predecessor Charlie Crist.
Even so, Corbett has suffered in comparison because he has not been able to score big conservative wins despite having a GOPcontrolled legislature, says antitax campaigner Grover Norquist.
Both a pension-revision plan — which New Jersey passed with Christie’s forceful advocacy — and a move to privatize state-run liquor stores have stalled.
Norquist calls them “lost opportunities” and says Corbett should have pushed the legislature harder.
Corbett did pass a transportation bill to rehabilitate roads and bridges, but he relied on a hike in the gas tax to do so, despite sign-
“I think that even the Green Party candidate could probably beat Gov. Corbett one-on-one this year.” Michael Morrill, liberal advocacy group Keystone Progress
ing a no-new-taxes pledge in 2010 like Kasich and Walker.
“Some of his problems really do start at home, in his own party. There’s a palpable sense of disappointment,” says Christopher Borick, director of the Polling Institute at Muhlenberg College in Bethlehem, Pa. “It’s hard to get a lot of momentum in the state when you have liabilities in your own party.”
Republicans say that it is too early in the re-election campaign to worry, and that when faced with a choice between Corbett and a Democratic opponent — the primary is May 20 — voters will re-elect the incumbent.
“The governor has always said he wasn’t sent here to make popular decisions, especially with what he was walking into,” campaign spokesman Billy Pitman says. “A lot of tough decisions needed to be made, which is exactly what he’s been doing.”
His campaign is highlighting the state’s below-average unemployment rate, balanced and ontime state budgets, and business tax cuts. And Corbett has shown signs of moving to the center, with a new budget plan that includes an increase for education.