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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (22765)	1/3/2004 11:19:59 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793597

Hmmm: philly.com Posted on Wed, Dec. 31, 2003 As expected, state treasurer switches to Democratic Party Barbara Hafer backed Ed Rendell in his bid for governor. Her affiliation will allow a run against Sen. Rick Santorum in '06. By Oliver Prichard Inquirer Staff Writer In a move widely anticipated ever since she crossed party lines to endorse Ed Rendell for governor, state Treasurer Barbara Hafer announced yesterday she had switched her affiliation to the Democratic Party. Her defection, which Hafer had all but promised while speaking at a political gathering three weeks ago in New York, will allow her to pursue a possible run against U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a conservative Republican, in 2006. Hafer's eight-year run as treasurer expires in January 2005. "The governor has talked to me about running against Rick Santorum, but I haven't made a decision yet," Hafer, 60, said yesterday in a telephone interview from her home in Saltsburg, Indiana County. "I'll be meeting with a lot of Democrats over the next few months to see what they think. We'll see." Hafer made a failed bid for the GOP's gubernatorial nomination in 2002 before endorsing Rendell over her party's candidate, then-Attorney General Mike Fisher. It was a decision "that angered a lot of Republicans in the hierarchy," she said. "They made it very clear to me that I no longer had a place in the Republican Party, and I agree," she added. "You can't do what I did and expect to be welcomed back." Since supporting Rendell, Hafer has also endorsed Democrat Dan Onorato in his victory over Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey. She endorsed Mayor Street in his successful reelection campaign. State Republican committee chairman Alan Novak called news of Hafer's affiliation change "anticlimactic." "Judging by Barbara Hafer's own actions, she left the GOP about a year and a half ago," Novak said. Hafer, an abortion-rights supporter who describes herself as fiscally conservative and socially progressive, is a registered nurse who became interested in fiscal policy after seeing the misuse of public health funds as a health-care administrator. In 1984, she became the first woman elected to the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners. Four years later, she was elected state auditor general, a position she held for eight years. She was also the Republican nominee for governor in 1990, losing by a landslide to then-Gov. Robert P. Casey. Jon Delano, a political consultant and adjunct professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, said Hafer would make a formidable opponent for Santorum, a social conservative whose public condemnation of homosexuality caused an uproar last year. "She has statewide recognition, she has a very devoted following - particularly in Western Pennsylvania - and she has the full support of Gov. Rendell," Delano said. "My gut tells me that Barbara Hafer is not making these moves without some sort of political calculation." In a prepared statement, Sen. Santorum said: "I am disappointed that Treasurer Hafer would abandon the Republican Party that has endorsed her for statewide office on five different occasions. The fact that we have been supportive of her is proof that the Republican Party is one which is broad based and welcomes people with different points of view." Rendell, speaking to reporters in Philadelphia, said he tried to persuade Hafer to become a Democrat when she endorsed him. He noted that Hafer became active in the GOP at a time when fellow Republicans included such social moderates as Nelson Rockefeller, William Scranton, Charles Percy and John Chaffee. "I'm not sure it is so much Barbara changing as the party changing on her," Rendell said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact staff writer Oliver Prichard at 610-313-8219 or oprichard@phillynews.com. This article includes information from the Associated Press. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. philly.com