Vince Fumo to retire, source says

State senator Vincent Fumo, one of the leading powerbrokers in Pennsylvania politics for the last generation,  plans to give up his reelection bid and retire from the legislature at the end of the year.

Fumo, 64, still recovering from a heart attack 10 days ago, plans to announce his decision Wednesday morning at a press conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, according to an informed source. At Fumo’s side will be Gov. Rendell, who said last week that he would support  Fumo for another term if the senator asked for his endorsement.

Fumo faces three challengers in the Democratic primary on April 22, and perhaps a more difficult test next September, when he is scheduled for a federal trial on a 139-count corruption indictment.  Even if he survived the primary, he’d have to endure a general election campaign with daily headlines coming out of his federal trial, revolving around charges that he benefitted personally from the operations of a non-profit community group called the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods. 

The decision to drop out of the primary will allow Fumo to focus more on preparations for his trial and whatever legislative goals remain important to him as he wraps up his 30-year career in the Senate.

Fumo had been Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee until giving up the post in the wake of his federal indictment. He remained an important figure on virtually every major issue moving through the legislature, from the distribution of billions of dollars in the annual state budget to the details of the state’s slot-machine initiative.  His staff is regarded as the smartest in the Capitol.

In recent days, Fumo had told a small circle of friends and allies about his plans to give up the primary campaign and retire.

The immediate impact on the Senate primary race is unclear.  Fumo had already lost a few Democratic ward leaders to one challenger, electricians union leader John Dougherty, a longtime Fumo foe. Dougherty, a former treasurer of Democratic City Committee, may have a leg up in securing more support from the party organization.

But Dougherty may provide a convenient target for the two others in the race, both trying to position themselves as young political reformers  ­– Anne Dicker, a community activist who helped organize neighborhoods in the Senate district against the casinos, and attorney Lawrence Farnese, who had planned to run against state Rep. Babette Josephs until he jumped into the Senate race less than a month ago.