Onorato enters race for Pennsylvania governor

PITTSBURGH - Coming into Pittsburgh from high above the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania, Dan Onorato pointed down from a four-seater jet and said, "See that? We did that."

As he opened his campaign for Pennsylvania governor yesterday - flying from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, then to his hometown of Pittsburgh - Onorato cast himself as a get-things-done guy among the field of five Democrats lining up to seek the state's highest office next year.

In his second term as Allegheny County executive, the 48-year-old Onorato (ah-no-RAH-toh) will offer the state's voters a story similar to what Gov. Rendell told them when he ran for governor after his two terms as Philadelphia mayor.

"I have a turnaround story in Allegheny County," Onorato said. "A city [Pittsburgh] that went bankrupt; a county that was on the edge of bankruptcy. We brought it back."

Opponents surely will point out that Allegheny County, in which Pittsburgh is located, lost 5 percent of its population between 2000 and 2008. Onorato also may be dogged by lingering controversy over a tax he imposed on drinks poured in bars. And last night his Pittsburgh speech was disrupted by protesters, several of whom were carted off in police handcuffs.

But as he looked from the airplane window at midafternoon, Onorato could point to an old industrial site on the Monongahela River and say he had cleaned it up and had made it ready for new use. He said he had cleaned up 1,500 acres of brownfields and had attracted $10.8 billion in economic development.

He also noted that he had held the line on property taxes.

Daniel M. Shea, a political science professor at Allegheny College in Northwestern Pennsylvania, said Onorato has "a pretty good story to tell."

"I think that will resonate with a number of voters," he said. "I think it's a legitimate part of his candidacy."

Other than statewide officeholders, Onorato represents more people (1.2 million) than any other state official except Mayor Nutter.

Speaking to 120 supporters at Philadelphia City Hall, Onorato pledged: "My main goal is that we create a business climate in Pennsylvania where companies can grow and jobs can grow."

He then headed for Riverfront Park in Harrisburg, where he addressed a few dozen people.

"I like what he said about jobs - and education," said Twyona Terrell, mother of a 16-year-old, who heard Onorato at the park. "You need the jobs, and you need the education to do them."

The candidate capped the day with an impressive rally attended by several hundred people at a union hall on Pittsburgh's South Side.

"He's done a lot for Allegheny County," said Ray Parker, head of a community agency who said he had worked with Onorato in assimilating immigrants into the Pittsburgh area.

About two dozen protesters, holding signs outside the hall, excoriated Onorato on issues ranging from the arrests of protesters at the recent G-20 summit to the air quality in Pittsburgh.

"He turned Pittsburgh into a police state for the G-20 summit with his harassment of protesters," said Chris West of Swissvale, holding a sign that said "Dan Onorato would be a terrible governor."

Onorato joins four other probable contenders in what is shaping up as a free-for-all Democratic Party primary next May.

The others are state Auditor General Jack Wagner, Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.

Onorato shares his Pittsburgh support base with Wagner. Both have long been described as pro-gun and antiabortion, making them the most socially conservative of the Democratic contenders.

Those are popular positions, even among Democrats, in Western Pennsylvania. But in the past antiabortion candidates have struggled to raise funds from the party's major donors, who generally support abortion rights.

Onorato is staking out a campaign position that, even if Roe v. Wade were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, he would not permit Pennsylvania's current abortion law to be amended.

"I will not change the existing law," he said in Philadelphia. "That is my statement. I won't change it."

Hoeffel, who crossed paths with Onorato at the Chester County Democratic Party's fall dinner on Sunday, said Onorato's position "isn't good enough" for party liberals.

He noted that the current state law is called the Abortion Control Act. It requires a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion and requires parental consent for a minor who seeks an abortion - conditions that abortion-rights activists oppose.

In 2000, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ron Klink said he might have beaten then-Sen. Rick Santorum if his conservative stances on social issues hadn't hindered him from raising money.

Onorato, so far, doesn't appear to have been hurt financially. The $5 million he reports having in his campaign chest may put him well ahead of other contenders. Knox has said he will put $20 million of his own money into the race.

A group of longtime Rendell donors in Philadelphia will host a fund-raising effort for Onorato on Oct. 21. The group, which includes national Democratic fund-raisers Ken Jarin and Alan Kessler, along with prominent local lawyers David L. Cohen and Mark Aronchick, hopes to raise $1 million.

Political scientist Jack M. Treadway of Kutztown University said of Onorato: "The thing he has to overcome is that he isn't known statewide. He is a regional candidate at this point. . . . But I suspect he is going to be able to raise the money to become known."

Age: 48; born Feb. 5, 1961, in Pittsburgh.

Education: B.S. in accounting, Pennsylvania State University (1983); J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1989).

Business Experience: Certified public accountant at Grant Thornton. Associate at the law firm Rich Fluke Tishman & Rich, where he started as a clerk in 1987.

Political Experience: Member of Pittsburgh City Council, 1991-99; Allegheny County controller, 2000-04; Allegheny County executive, 2004-present.

Family: Onorato and his wife, Shelly, live in the Brighton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh. They have three children.

SOURCE: Associated Press

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