Stick a Fork in It
by Lowman S. Henry
The two remaining Republican State Committee regional caucuses braved snowy conditions today to meet and conduct straw polls for statewide offices.
The end result for Nick DiFranceco: one vote. That's right: he received one vote in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Caucus and no votes in the Northeast Central Caucus, the second caucus in which he laid a goose egg (the other being the southeast caucus.)
After nearly two years of effort by DiFrancesco and Dauphin County Republican Committee Chairman John McNally the Lieutenant Governor campaign netted the support of just 38 of the more than 340 state committee votes cast in the straw poll process.
The DiFrancesco meltdown is an embarrasing defeat for McNally and the lobbyists who run the Dauphin County Republcian Party. Not only have they lost the grassroots support of Republicans within the county, but they were unable to to mount an effective campaign for a second tier statewide office.
The straw poll process has weeded the field of lieutenant governor candidates down to three remaining contenders: Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley (who has the support of state party bosses), Chet Beiler of Lancaster who was the party's 2008 nominee for Auditor General, and Philadelphia minister Joe Watkins.
Cawley has been drawing fire for his record in Bucks County in recent weeks while Watkins has sparked a bit of a grassroots surge behind his candidacy.
The Republican State Committee meets on Saturday (February 13th) to issue endorsements. Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett ran away with over 95% of the straw poll votes leaving the lieutenant governor endorsement as the lone remaining battleground.