Pennsylvania: Dan Onorato

As seen by Jim O'Toole of the P-G:

Basking in the afterglow of the G-20 summit, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato gave a hometown kickoff to his bid for governor last night before crowd of several hundred supporters and a smattering of vocal opponents.

Mr. Onorato, 48, cited a litany of environmental and development achievements from his two terms as county executive and said they offered a preview of the leadership he would provide for Pennsylvania.

He said the recent economic summit had given an international showcase to those accomplishments.

But the G-20 giveth and the G-20 taketh away.

The North Side native's speech was repeatedly interrupted by demonstrators loudly protesting the actions of police officers confronting crowds in Oakland and elsewhere during the event two weeks ago.

I guess we gotta do this every few weeks. The last time was July 2.

Here's what they write today:
On the "Watch List": Dan Onorato and Luke Ravenstahl. The Allegheny County chief executive and the mayor of Pittsburgh have begun an eight-month push to bolster census-response rates. Indeed, an accurate count is to the benefit of all. But here's a critical question for them:

Do they support the involvement of ACORN in the survey process? That would be the same ACORN that's accused in a number of states, Pennsylvania included, of voter registration fraud. That would be the same ACORN that aided the subprime mortgage mess by bullying banks to lend to those with dubious financial means.

NEW YORK -- Four decades of Pennsylvania political history suggest after eight years of a Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, the state is poised to elect a Republican its top executive.

But Allegheny County Chief Executive and rumored front-runner for the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nomination Dan Onorato doesn't believe history is about to repeat.

"That's totally irrelevant," Onorato told PolitickerPA.com shortly after a reception he hosted at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel ended.

PHILADELPHIA-As the state's leading Democrat, it's not surprising that Gov. Ed Rendell has close relationships with many of the party's candidates hoping to replace him in two years. He has worked closely on legislative matters with some, while others have been major campaign contributors.

But until Democrats pick their candidate to run for governor, Rendell says he'll try to stay above the fray.

"It's likely that I won't support anyone directly in the primary," he told PolitickerPA.com.