State House to big house

HARRISBURG - Tuesday's primary will be like no other election Rep. Bill DeWeese has experienced in his lengthy career in the state House.

Even as voters in his southwestern Pennsylvania district punch the button next to his name, the former longtime House Democratic leader will be 180 miles away in Harrisburg, where he is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction on five felony counts in a corruption case.

Because that will trigger a constitutional ban on felons serving as lawmakers, DeWeese has said he will resign - before sentencing - from the 50th District seat he has held for 35 years.

Back home, DeWeese is all but certain to be nominated for another term. He is unopposed for the Democratic nod, and a state judge has ruled that his name should remain on the 2012 ballot.

What will happen next is anybody's guess.

"It's very challenging to speculate about what will be forthcoming," said DeWeese, who is keeping his options open - and speculation about his future alive - for the time being.

DeWeese, who turned 62 on Wednesday, was arrested as part of a 5-year-old state corruption investigation that also produced convictions or guilty pleas from 20 former lawmakers and aides in the House Democratic and Republican caucuses on charges involving illegal electioneering.