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Judge Bill Ward - Who needs facts?

I’m used to seeing ridiculous half-truths on campaign mail, but this is a first.

 

What the heck does “Number One Democrat” mean on this mail?

Mr. Ward is not the # 1 Democrat on the ballot.

Mr. Ward is not an endorsed Democratic candidate.

He isn’t even a Democrat!

He isn’t just a run of the mill registered Republican either. He served as Governor Tom Corbett’s Chief of Staff over the last 3 years. Mr. Ward was the head staff member pushing an extreme right-wing ideology throughout Governor Corbett’s first term.

The Post-Gazette should really re-think their endorsement of Mr. Ward after political pandering like this.

Jennifer Satler - Making the Democrats that supported her proud!

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee did an amazing job of picking one of their endorsed judicial candidates this spring. This is what happens when judges are elected to a position instead of appointed. You have judicial candidates that pander to the extreme positions of both parties to win an election.

The Allegheny County Democratic Party sent out this mailer asking for support of their endorsed candidates who “will provide competent leadership while recognizing the fundamental values that makes us Democrats.”

 

Then one of their endorsed candidates, Jennifer Satler sent out two mailings to Republicans with a picture of her and Republican Congressman Tim Murphy and talks about her ‘conservative values.’

 

Is this the type of person we want on the bench? Someone who is willing to tell both sides what they want to hear? Would she tell a victim that the criminal is going to jail for 25 years and then tell the criminal that he only gets probation?

No wonder she was ranked ‘Not Qualified’ by the Allegheny County Bar Association.

Notch this up as another great decision by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee.
 

Patrick Connelly for Judge

Mail from Patrick Connelly for Judge.

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Barbara Behrend Ernsberger - Pink/Purple mail

Here is some mail from Barbara Behrend Ernsberger for Judge. From the label, it appeared that this mail was sent only to women voters. It might also be the wordiest campaign mail of 2013. Wow.

Letter in support of Judge Paul Cozza and Judge Bill Ward

Judge Cozza is really pushing for the Republican vote. This letter comes from Elsie Hillman who was a member of the Republican National Committee for over 20 years. This letter was sent to Republicans in support of Governor Corbett's judicial appointments (Judge Bill Ward and Judge Paul Cozza) on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

I wonder if the Allegheny County Democratic Party is happy to have one of their endorsed candidates working together with Governor Corbett's former Chief of Staff?

Judge Paul Cozza - Republican Mail

Here is some mail sent to Republican voters for Judge Paul Cozza who is running for judge. Slightly surprising to see one of the Allegheny County Democratic Party's endorsed candidates talk about Judge Bill Ward and Governor Corbett in a positive way, but a good move in a mailing to Republican voters without selling out completely.

Mark Tranquilli for Judge - Republican Mail

Here is some mail from Mark Tranquilli for Judge. This was sent to Republican households. 

Elanor Bush for Judge - Mail

Mail sent by Eleanor Bush for Judge. Guessing form the mailing label, I think this mail was only sent to women in Allegheny County.

PJ Murry for Judge - Republican Mail

Mail sent to Republicans from P.J. Murray for Judge.

 

Social Media and the 2013 Primary

Will the campaigns with the most followers/likes win this spring?

With so many campaigns taking advantage of social media these days, I've often wondering how well it works for a campaign to get their message out. If followers/likes counted as votes here are the candidates that would win this spring:

Pittsburgh Mayor

Facebook:
Jack Wagner: 3,055 Likes
Bill Peduto: 939 Likes
Jake Wheatley: 93 Likes
No Page for AJ Richardson

Twitter:
Bill Peduto: 6,084 Followers
Jack Wagner: 750 Followers
Jake Wheatley: 698 Followers
No Twitter Account for AJ Richardson

Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

Facebook:
Patrick Connelly: 701 Likes
Marc Daffner: 540 Likes
Mark Tranquilli: 367 Likes
Eleanor Bush: 240 Likes
Judge Bill Ward: 132 Likes
Joe Luvara: 76 Likes
PJ Murray: 65 Likes
Rosemary Crawford: 43 Likes
Marvin Leibowitz: 8 Likes
Marcia Cooper: (No Facebook Page Found)
Judge Paul Cozza: (No Facebook Page Found)
Jennifer Satler: (No Facebook Page Found)
Barbara Behrend-Ernsberger (No Facebook Page Found)


Twitter:
Patrick Connelly: 279 Followers
PJ Murray: 68 Followers
Mark Tranquilli: 51 Followers
Joe Luvara 37 Followers
Judge Paul Cozza: 36 Followers
Marc Daffner: 15 Followers
Marvin Leibowitz: 9 Followers
Eleanor Bush: (No Twitter Account Found)
Marcia Cooper: (No Twitter Account Found)
Jennifer Satler: (No Twitter Account Found)
Barbara Behrend-Ernsberger (No Twitter Account Found)
Judge Bill Ward: (No Twitter Account Found)
Rosemary Crawford: (No Twitter Account Found)

*Numbers were recorded on May 13, 2013*

Patrick Connelly for Judge Mail

Here is a piece of mail sent by Patrick Connelly who is running for Judge in Allegheny County. This was sent to me by a reader that lives in the City of Pittsburgh.

 

I have been told by a couple of politicos and lawyers that Mr. Connelly is a good lawyer and would make a great judge. According to my sources, he came in fifth at the Democratic Endorsement, just a few votes shy of being endorsed by the Democratic Party. He is currently on my list of 4 candidates that I plan on supporting in the 2013 Primary.  

 

 

Disturbing letter from Judge Bill Ward

Anyone that reads this blog shouldn't be surprised that I would not be a fan of Governor Corbett's former Chief of Staff. This is the guy that was pushing the extreme political agenda of Governor Corbett for the first 3 years of his Governorship.

 

I had a hard time even reading this first paragraph of this letter. While I get his point about the judgeship being an important position, it is almost too disturbing to read. Not to mention, he is going to handling divorce and custody hearings for the first few years if he wins a seat on the bench.

 

So will Democratic voters see through the union bug and tricky way making it sound like he is actually a Democrat and vote for him in the 2013 Democratic Primary?

 

Tranquilli for Judge Mail

 

Here is some mail that was sent to Republicans for Mark Tranquilli who is running for judge in Allegheny County. Mr. Tranquilli is one of the endorsed Democratic candidates.

 

If you like the law and order types for judge, he has a very impressive resume. He will still get sent to Family Court for a few years before he could ever get to handle criminal cases, but someday he would have a chance to be a criminal division judge. I have been told by multiple politicos that Mr. Tranquilli is a stand up guy and will make a great judge. As of right now he is on my list of 4 candidates that I plan on voting for.  

 



 

Mailing in support of the Endorsed Democratic Candidates for Judge

Here is the mailing that the Allegheny County Democratic Party (I was informed that the Allegheny County Democratic Party was not involved in this mailing and it was organized by the candidates themselves.) sent out in support of their four endorsed candidates for Judge.

 

I'm not very impressed with the mailer because it looks too corporate, and I'm also not very impressed with the candidates. I plan on supporting one of their candidates (Mark Tranquilli). Two of the candidates seem to be at least qualified (Phillip P.J. Murray and Judge Paul Cozza), but I haven't been extremely impressed by those two when I look at the entire field. One of the endorsed candidates (Jennifer Satler) is ridiculously unqualified and a former Republican. Her biggest selling point she made in an interview with the Tribune-Review is that she wants to be a judge for 30 years. I would rather elect a qualified judge for 10 years of service than an unqualified attorney that may never become a good judge.

 

 

Elanor Bush for Judge Mail

Here is a mailer that was sent out by Eleanor Bush for Judge. I have heard very good things about Ms. Bush and she appears qualified to take on the family division in Allegheny County. She is one of the 4 candidates that I plan on supporting in this month's Primary Election.

 

 

Primary 2013 - North Hills School District, Ross Township, and West View

The School Board in North Hills is a hot race with 10 candidates vying for 4 seats. The democratic nomination for tax collector is a 3 way race.

Ross Township

Commissioner, Ward 2
Republican -- Jeff Meyer
Democrat -- Stephen Korbel

Commissioner, Ward 4
Democrat -- Lana Mazur

Commissioner, Ward 6
Democrat -- David Mikec Sr.

Commissioner, Ward 8
Republican -- Jeremy Shaffer
Democrat -- Walter Salachup

Tax CollectorIncumbent Donna Carey stepped away from the work in June of 2011, deputizing Jordan Tax Service to handle tax collections for the township and the North Hills School District.

Republican  - Clifford Bright
Democrat - Jerry O'Brien, George Roderus, and Stephanie Conners-Maguire.

West View

Mayor
Democrat -- J.R. Henry

Council (4)
Democrats -- William Aguglia. Bryan Kircher, John Koerts, Robert Schellhaas

North Hills School District (4)

Republican and Democrat -- Matthew Sean Edinger Sr., Thomas Kelly, Louis Krummert III, Joe Muha, Annette Giovengo Nolish, Jason Pirring, Kathy Reid, Sharon Schrim, Helen Spade, Michael Yeomans

Primary 2013 - Shaler Township & Shaler Area School District

A couple of Shaler Area School Board seats are contested this spring.

Shaler Township
 

Commissioner, Ward 2
Republican -- Lori Voegtly Mizgorski
Democrat -- Jim Tunstall

Council, Ward 4
Republican -- Leah Kurz
Democrat -- Thomas McElhone

Council, Ward 6
Democrat -- James Boyle

Shaler Area School District (4)

Region 1 (2)
Republican and Democrat -- April Kwiatkowki

Region 2 (1)
Republican and Democrat -- Suzanna Donahue, Domenic Donovan

Region 3 (1)
Republican and Democrat -- James Giel Jr., Steve Romac

Primary 2013 - Pine-Richland

No contested races in the Primary in Pine Township, Richland Township, or the Pine-Richland School District. There will be a race in November for one of the Richland Township Supervisor seats. I was told that the current School Board members were having a hard time getting four people to run for office.

Pine Township

Supervisor (2)
Republicans -- Michael Dennehy Jr., Edward Holdcroft

 

Richland Township

Supervisor, District 2 (1)
Republican -- John Marshall
Democrat -- Robert Pavlecic

Supervisor, District 4 (1)
Republican -- Barton Miller

Pine-Richland School Board (4)
 

Region 1 (1)
Republican and Democrat -- M. Katie Shogan
Republican -- Gregory DiTullio

Region 2, 4-year term (2)
Republican and Democrat -- Dennis Sundo

Region 2, 2-year term (1)
Republican -- Marc Casciani

2013 Primary - McCandless Township

No contested races in McCandless this spring.
 

Council, Ward 2 (1)
Republican -- Gerard Aufman Jr.

Council, Ward 4 (1)
Republican -- Robert Powers

Council, Ward 6 (1)
Republicans -- Ralph LeDonne

2013 Primary - Marshall Township

No contested races in Marshall Township for the May 21st Municipal Primary.

 

Supervisor, 6-year term (2)
Republicans -- Anthony Candek, Philip Troy

2013 Primary - Indiana Township

Only one local race in Indiana Township this year. Only one candidate on the ballot.
 

Supervisor, District 5 (1)
Republican -- Michael Schurko

Primary 2013 - Hampton Township

More of the same in Hampton Township. Three incumbents running for council and no opposition.
 

Council (3)
Republicans -- Cary Montgomery, Peter Russ, Victor Son

Primary 2013 - Franklin Park Borough

Nothing exciting going on in Franklin Park this spring.
 

Mayor
Republican -- Dennis O'Keefe

Council, Ward 1 (1)
Republican -- Jim Hogg

Council, Ward 2 (1)
Republican -- Jane Ann Hopey

Council, Ward 3 (1)
Republican -- Amy Sable

Primary 2013 - Fox Chapel

No contested races in Fox Chapel Borough this spring and unless there is a write-in there won't be any contested races in November either.

Mayor
Republican -- Walter Scott III

Council (4)
Republicans -- Andrew Bennett, Thomas Karet, Harrison Lauer, Kathleen Toole

Primary 2013 - Etna

There is only one contested council race in Etna this spring.

Mayor
Democrat -- Thomas Rengers

Council, Ward 1 (1)
Democrat -- Rudy Milcic Jr.

Council, Ward 2 (2)
Republican -- Edward Burke Jr.
Democrat -- Peter Ramage

Council, Ward 3 (2)
Democrats -- Dave Becki, Dave Farmerie, William O'Dell, Joseph Pfeifer

Primary 2013 - Bradford Woods

It looks like a contested Republican Primary in Bradford Woods for Council. I'm surprised that there is a Democrat that is on the ballot. Seems like it would be a tough place for a Democrat to win.
 

Mayor
Republican -- Robert Murray

Council (4)
Republicans -- David Baldonieri, Charles Coltharp, Barbara Ann Heintz, Victoria Laird-Pongrace, Patricia Mirth, Roy Wiegand
Democrat -- Alisha Hipwell

Primary 2013 - Ben Avon & Ben Avon Heights

No contested races in the Ben Avon or Ben Avon Heights Primaries. Heck, the Ben Avon Heights Council race is 2 short of candidates even willing to get their name on the ballot.

Ben Avon

Mayor
Republican --Robert Barry Jones

Council (4)
Republicans -- Philip Brind'Amour, Brian Tokar, Michael Wrbas, Julian Wynnyckyj
Democrats -- Jennifer Heller Bett, David Holcomb, Richard White

Ben Avon Heights

Mayor
Republican -- Scott Dismukes

Council (4)
Republicans -- Mark Davis, John Isherwood III

2013 Primary - Bellevue

Local politics have been exciting in Bellevue the last few years with the Liberty in Bellevue Group and Marty Griffin paying way too much attention to a so called grilling ban.

There is a contested race in the Democratic Primary for Mayor in Bellevue:

Mayor

Republican -- Joe Scioscia Jr.
Democrats -- Jane Braunlich, Paul Cusick

Our old friend Kathy Coder is running unopposed in the Republican Primary, but at least one of the Democratic candidates for council in Ward 1 is going to go home empty handed.

Council, Ward 1 (2)
Republicans -- Kathy Coder, Megan Swackhammer
Democrats -- Michael Braunlich, Henry Lenard, Michael Sendro

I don't think you see a husband and wife team on a local council too often, but it should make this 4 way race interesting:

Council, Ward 2 (2)
Democrats -- Vencent Walter Menosky, Matthew Senvisky, James Viscusi, Susan Viscusi

Council, Ward 3 (1)
Republican -- Grant Saylor
Democrat -- Lynn Tennant-Heffley

2013 Primary Election - Avalon

No contested races in Avalon in this year's Primary and doesn't look like their will be any races in the November Election either.
 

Mayor
Democrat -- David Haslett

Council, Ward 1 (1)
Democrat -- Thomas Lloyd Jr.

Council, Ward 2 (2)
Republicans -- Lee Nelson, William Pascale

Council, Ward 3 (2)
Democrats -- Ryan Neal, John Vetterly Jr.

2013 Primary Election - Aspinwall

No contested races in Aspinwall in this year's local Primary.

Mayor
Democrat -- Joseph Giuffre

Council (4)
Republicans -- Ann Marsico, Joseph David Noro, Ann Marie Pawlikowski
Democrats -- Jay Arnone, Mark Ellermeyer