Analysis: Governor candidates collect cash from diverse donors

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February 6, 2010

By PETER JACKSON The Tribune-Democrat Sat Feb 06, 2010, 10:53 PM EST

HARRISBURG — When it comes to the cash that fuels gubernatorial campaigns, Democrat Dan Onorato and Republican Tom Corbett are cruising into the height of primary season with full tanks.

Manning the pumps is a motley assortment of labor unions, law firms, at least two out-of-state billionaires and numerous corporate executives whose business interests include natural gas, coal, education and insurance, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.

Onorato, the Allegheny County executive, and fellow county resident Corbett, the state attorney general, stood out as the top fundraisers among the candidates competing for the nominations.

A review of Onorato’s and Corbett’s reports provided valuable glimpses into the people and groups who are bankrolling their campaigns:

Some gleanings:

• Corbett’s biggest campaign contributor last year was Kim Pegula, a Boca Raton, Fla., resident who gave $180,000.

Although it is not spelled out in the report, she is married to Terry Pegula, the president and chief executive officer of East Resources Inc., a Warrendale-based gas exploration company that holds the drilling rights to hundreds of thousands of acres in Pennsylvania over the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation.

Robert Long, an East Resources executive, also contributed $25,000.

• Onorato received $100,000 each from Los Angeles supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle of Los Angeles; philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, a retired cable-TV mogul from West Conshohocken; and Thomas and Gail Buckner of Gibsonia.

Thomas Buckner is president and CEO of Ibis Tek LLC, a Saxonburg company that makes specialized products for the defense industry.

• Corbett received $100,000 from Vahan H. Gureghian, a lawyer whose management company operates the state’s largest charter school, the Chester Community Charter School. In June, the Delaware County school filed a court appeal of a state Office of Open Records ruling that granted The Philadelphia Inquirer access to the management company’s financial records on grounds that it is not covered by the state right-to-know law because it is a private business.

• Gov. Ed Rendell’s former law firm, Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr, gave the Onorato campaign $25,000. John Estey, Rendell’s longtime chief of staff, chipped in $10,000.

• Corbett’s campaign received several sizable contributions from coal company executives, including James Clifford Forrest III, president of Rosebud Mining Co. in Kittanning ($55,000); C. Alan Walker, president and CEO of Bradford Energy Co. in Woodland ($40,000); and Gilberton Coal Co. owner John W. Rich Jr. and his father, who together contributed $25,000.

• Laborers’ unions contributed more than $100,000 to Onorato’s campaign, while the Teamsters’ DRIVE political-action committee gave $30,000 and United Steelworkers contributed $25,000.

• Corbett’s contributions also included $101,000 from Bryn Mawr philanthropist

Dr. John M. Templeton Jr.; $100,000 from Erie insurance businessman Samuel P. Black III; $97,500 from candy company owner and GOP national committeeman Robert Asher; $46,500 from the Sheetz convenience store chain’s political committee and Stan Sheetz, its president and CEO; and $25,000 from John Catsimatidis, a supermarket billionaire from New York.

A full tank is a good start, but the candidates are going to need several tankfuls to get where they want to go.

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