Wolf vs. Corbett: 5 Issues They’ll Tussle Over Between Now And November

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The campaigns for Gov. Tom Corbett and Democratic challenger Tom Wolf traded shots over education funding, natural gas drilling and other issues before Wolf won his party’s nomination.

Voters can expect a lot more of that before Nov. 4.

“I think it’s going to be a long, grueling contest, in which both candidates are going to have to defend an awful lot about their records,” said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

Corbett has had lower approval ratings than Tom Ridge and Ed Rendell had at the same points in their first terms. In a January poll from Franklin & Marshall College, 23 percent of registered Pennsylvania voters said Corbett was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as governor.

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/politics/ci_25828929/wolf-v-corbett-5-issues-theyll-tussle-over

With Gerlach Leaving, The Scramble For Candidates Has Already Begun

English: , member of the United States House of Representatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The scramble to become a candidate for U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach‘s seat has already begun and the battle for the post will be a national spectacle, political watchers said Monday.

The Chester County Republican announced Monday that he will not seek re-election to a seventh term.

And while Gerlach said he mainly made the decision to spend more time with his family, he acknowledged that frustration with Washington had to play a role.

“I just get the sense that he was very unhappy with the situation, the gridlock, the partisanship, the inability to get much done,” said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. “Many (politicians) have reached a point where many don’t want to go through this anymore.”

Read more:   http://readingeagle.com/article/20140107/NEWS/301079935/1052#.UsxmIfRDsxI

Pennsylvania Headed In Wrong Direction, Poll Says

Map of Pennsylvania, showing major cities and roads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pennsylvanians think their state is headed in the wrong direction and its governor isn’t doing a very good job steering the ship, a new poll shows.

The latest edition of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll was released today, and the survey of 628 registered voters showed that only a quarter believe Pennsylvania is headed in the right direction. According to data provided by the college that dates back to January 2010, that number is a new low.

A majority in the recent poll – 61 percent – responded the state is “off on the wrong track.”

Both the right direction and wrong track numbers are similar to results shown in the last Franklin & Marshall poll released in August, where 26 percent said the state is headed in the right direction and 61 percent said it’s on the wrong track.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=517834