Central Caucus Backs Chet Beiler for Lt. Governor
DiFrancesco rejected by home caucus
by Lowman S. Henry
The Central caucus of the Republican State Committee met today and took the first in a series of six straw polls designed to test candidate strength for the upcoming state committee endorsement.
Chet Beiler of Lancaster County, the party's 2008 nominee for Auditor General, won the caucus endorsements with 29 votes. That establishes Beiler in the top tier of contenders for the full party endorsement in February.
The big loser of the day was Dauphin County Commissioner Nick DiFrancesco who had built his candidacy on his claim that he would emerge as the central caucus candidate against stronger candidates from the populous southeastern corner of the state.
DiFrancesco finished second in the balloting with 26 votes. Given that he has no hope of prevailing in any of the other five caucuses, his defeat in the Central caucus effectively ends his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor.
However, the vote did show signs of strength for two southeastern candidates, Philadelphia minister and MSNBC commentator Joe Watkins who received 17 votes and Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley who finished fourth with 13 votes. Neither were expected to win the central caucus vote, but by showing some strength in today's vote they are in a strong position as the straw poll balloting heads to their own region.
The vote today essentially trims the field of top contenders to three: Chet Beiler, Joe Watkins and Jim Cawley. Additional caucus votes will be taken over the coming weeks with the full state committee slated to vote on Febuary 13th.