Starting in the Senate race, the choice for Democrats right now seems to be between former Congressman and 2010 nominee Joe Sestak and possibly Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro. Attorney General Kathleen Kane will absolutely not be running now, and no one else is currently making noise about a run. Sestak did a very nice job running competitively in 2010, mostly as a result of a favorable profile for a statewide run in Pennsylvania. With that said, there are issues with Sestak's campaign organization in 2010 that concern me, so I'm keeping an open mind between the two, for now. Shapiro has shown an ability to "turn" Montgomery from red-to-blue, but is totally an unknown statewide if he runs. Given how far out this race is, it might not even happen, so there's no point having a preference yet.
On the row offices, Kane is running for re-election, and right now I don't see any reason to not back her. There have been past rumors about Philadelphia DA Seth Williams and other names coming up to challenge her, and if that happens, you re-evaluate then. I'm inclined to support the incumbent Attorney General though. In the Auditor General race, we're going to re-nominate Eugene DePasquale, and we should, he does great work. As for the Treasurer race, I had heard nothing prior to reports that Joe Torsella raised $950,000 already for the race. That is an impressive number to raise before anyone else is even getting any buzz.
I'm glad to hear that State Rep. Steve Santarsiero is considering a run in PA-8, as he has a proven record of winning in a competitive region of Bucks County, and if he can repeat that, could possibly give Democrats a chance to win in a Presidential year. Mike Parrish out in PA-6 would be a credible challenger there after not running a credible candidate in 2014. As for Erin McClellan in PA-12, I do think she'd do better in 2014, but I do have some doubts after this race.
In short, I don't think Democrats got any bad news this weekend. That's good. Before we get to 2016 though, there are judicial races coming up in 2015. Seats on the Supreme Court and Superior Court are already developing, and as a state committeeman, I'm already getting mail from the candidates. I hope to write up a little more on those races in the coming days, as I review what I received. These races will possibly dictate who controls 2021's Congressional re-districting process, a pretty big deal to most of us who want a better Congress.
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