Hanger seeking governor's post with wonkery, little money

In early June, John Hanger challenged the other candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor of Pennsylvania: Limit your primary spending to $3 million, pledge to back public financing of future state campaigns, and debate, debate, debate.

He was greeted by the sound of crickets chirping.

That is not surprising, given that Hanger's opponents include politicians with more money and bigger electoral bases, such as U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz and state Treasurer Rob McCord, both of Montgomery County. Even now, eight months before the May 2014 primary, most are locked in rooms making fund-raising calls and building campaign infrastructure.

"Frankly, I think some of my opponents look at this as a political opportunity - and they may well win it, but I don't think that's a good-enough reason to run for governor," Hanger said. "They're all good people, but they've told the people of Pennsylvania little or nothing of what they'd do."

The former public utility commissioner and secretary of environmental protection has spent months churning out policy proposals like sausage, and haunting the highways - 61 counties, more than 50,000 miles, by his count.

Hanger's slogan is "Policy, Not Politics," and he's betting that wonkery on the issues is the best way to differentiate himself in a field that has grown to 10 announced and potential candidates, with Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski getting in Sunday.

For one thing, Hanger wants to legalize medical marijuana, then decriminalize possession of small amounts, and eventually regulate and tax the drug. He calls the number of people in prison for marijuana-related crimes a "disgrace."

He also has proposed a zero-tuition plan for students attending community colleges and state universities, financed with bonds until it becomes self-sustaining as students pay back their loans.

In addition, Hanger would cut off state funding for charter schools that don't meet state math and reading test standards; double the state's use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, over the next 13 years; and tighten drilling regulations on natural-gas producers, as well as imposing a so-called severance tax on the gas they extract.

Schwartz recently came out in favor of taxing natural-gas production as well, and some of Hanger's positions may eventually be shared by some or all of his Democratic rivals.

Little wonder there's so many of them: No incumbent Pennsylvania governor who has sought reelection has ever lost, but Gov. Corbett has wretched poll numbers, including a Franklin and Marshall College survey last month that found only 20 percent of registered voters believe he deserves a second term.

Hanger, of Hummelstown, Dauphin County, was the first Democrat to announce his candidacy, in November.

He has been joined by Schwartz and Pawlowski; Tom Wolf, a York County businessman and former state revenue secretary; former DEP Secretary Katie McGinty; Harrisburg-area minister Max Myers; Jo Ellen Litz, a commissioner of deep-red Lebanon County; State Sen. Mike Stack of Philadelphia; and State Rep. Scott Conklin of Centre County. McCord is expected to declare this month.

"Hanger is an accomplished, intelligent guy who is talking about serious issues, but campaigns are still dominated by television," said David Dunphy, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist. "If you don't have the money, is all that just the sound of a tree falling in a forest with no one to hear?"

Hanger believes the old rules don't apply in such a crowded primary. Based on the 24 percent Democratic turnout in 2010, it could take as few as 250,000 to 300,000 votes to win, he said.

Another underfunded Pennsylvanian, Rick Santorum, used a similar shoe-leather strategy in Iowa last year and shook up the GOP presidential field.

"The winning number is declining every time somebody new gets into this race," Hanger said. "This lessens the power of television, gets us closer to the scale of a governor's race in Vermont rather than California or Pennsylvania."

Age: 56.

Residence: Hummelstown, near Harrisburg.

Party: Democratic.

Experience: Commissioner of public utilities, 1993-98.

President, PennFuture environmental advocacy group, 1998-2008.

Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2008-11.

Education: B.A.. Duke University, 1979; J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1984.

Family: Married to physician Luanne Thorndyke for 33 years.

Odd fact: Hanger was born in Kenya, immigrated to the United States from Ireland at age 12 in 1970, and became an American citizen in 1977.

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