Despite the polls, not everyone is smiling in the Ed Rendell camp these days. Rendell confidant and former Philadelphia lobbyist Holly Kinser recently got into a memorable confrontation at a Harrisburg nightclub with Kent Gates, campaign manager for Mike Fisher , Rendell's Republican opponent.
Kinser is the ex-wife of state Rep. Bill DeWeese, of Greene County. She was seen socially with Rendell before her marriage dissolved while Rendell was mayor and she was the city's lobbyist.
Kinser, who worked in Illinois for the past year, moved back to Pennsylvania after Rendell's nomination as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. She heard rumors that she is about to be featured in a Fisher campaign ad targeting Rendell and was not at all happy about the prospect. Nor was she shy about letting Gates know it.
First, she confronted John Brabender, of Pittsburgh, who is responsible for crafting Fisher's television ads.
"I have no intention of airing anything relative to her in this campaign," Brabender said.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, when Kinser was introduced to Gates at the nightclub, her first words to him were, "I hate your guts."
Witnesses also recalled Kinser jabbing a finger in Gates' chest, saying, "Don't you (mess) with me!"
Kinser later told the newspaper the confrontation occurred because she didn't appreciate rumors being spread about her.
"Sometimes I'm a very candid person," she said.
Gates declined comment, other than to say, "I'm sure I'm not her favorite person."
Kinser has been a political lightning rod since her return to the Pennsylvania political scene.
DeWeese waged his own lobbying campaign to prevent her from getting a job in Harrisburg.
When his close pal, lobbyist Steve Wojdak, hired Kinser, DeWeese went ballistic and broke off their friendship. DeWeese claimed Wojdak promised him that he wouldn't give her a job.
D-DAY. Attorney Michele Bononi will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Harrisburg Tuesday to face questioning about her qualifications to be a judge in Westmoreland County.
Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, of Bucks County, notified Bononi Wednesday that she will be questioned by the full committee.
Her appearance, though, does not mean Bononi will be confirmed to replace Judge Charles Loughran, who retired earlier this year.
There are also four vacancies in Allegheny County and only one attorney has been nominated by Gov. Mark Schweiker to fill a spot there. Unless the committee can agree on nominees for the other vacancies, Bononi's confirmation is likely to be tabled when the committee meets this week.
That's what happened to the nomination of attorney Helen Kistler, of Penn Township, who was picked to replace the retiring District Justice Frank DelBene .
JUDICIAL MANEUVERING. Democratic and Republican attorneys in Westmoreland County have been notified by the Pennsylvania Bar Association that there will be four openings on state appellate courts in next year's primary.
One vacancy will be on the state Supreme Court, and three will be on Superior Court.
Common Pleas Court Judge John Driscoll and District Attorney John Peck reportedly are interested in running for Superior Court, but will not discuss their intentions.
On the local level, the Westmoreland Bar Association is considering forming a committee to endorse a candidate for county judge next year to fill the spot created by Loughran's retirement.
The bar association likely would support Gary Falatovich , who plans to run.
ACT YOUR AGE. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell thinks the GOP lieutenant governor candidate, state Sen. Jane Earll, of Erie, was out of line during a recent debate when she made a remark about Rendell's running mate, Catherine Baker Knoll, 72, formerly a two-term state treasurer .
Earll was asked by reporters why organizers had chosen a Pittsburgh hospital as a site for the debate.
"Maybe in case (Knoll) needs to be resuscitated," Earll answered.
Rendell was quick to decry the remark by the 44-year-old Earll. He pointed out that Pennsylvania has the second-oldest population in the nation.
EXCUSE THE RECUSE. Rendell got lucky. He won't have to interrupt his gubernatorial campaign to defend himself in a federal civil-rights lawsuit after all.
The Democratic nominee for governor is a defendant in the lawsuit filed by Don Adams of Montgomery County. Adams and his sister were beaten by Teamsters while protesting a 1998 visit to Philadelphia by President Bill Clinton .
The lawsuit alleges Rendell conspired with the Teamsters to quell any peaceful protesters during Clinton's visit. The litigation also contends that Rendell is partially responsible for the attack because he had invited the Teamsters to rally in support of Clinton.
The civil trial was to begin last week before U.S. District Judge Bruce Kauffman , but Kauffman recused himself. The recusal came after Rendell recently refused to detail during a deposition the extent of any personal friendship he had with Kauffman.
The lawsuit, now reassigned to U.S. District Judge William Yohn , is not expected to go to trial for several months. Yohn needs time to become familiar with the case.
MARK OF A WINNER. Think Schweiker is second-guessing his decision not to seek a full term as governor⢠Bet a whole slew of melancholy Republicans across the state certainly are.
Schweiker trounced Rendell 47 percent to 29 percent in a Keystone Poll conducted last week. Unfortunately for the GOP, the same poll showed Rendell with a 15-point edge — 45 percent to 30 percent over state Attorney General Mike Fisher , the Republican candidate who will actually appear on the ballot.
A spokesman for Schweiker, who gained national recognition with his handling of the Quecreek Mine rescue last summer, said the governor appreciated the support he received in the poll.
WEINSTEIN WHINES. Poor John Weinstein . The embattled Democratic Allegheny County treasurer can't get any respect from his hometown newspaper, the Suburban Gazette.
The Gazette published the recent county Elections Board report on allegations of voter fraud in Kennedy Township, which was not kind to Weinstein and his father, Kennedy Township Treasurer Mel Weinstein . The report concluded signatures on 28 absentee ballots matched Mel Weinstein's signature. Another five bore signatures similar to that of John Weinstein.
Instead of explaining all this to the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office, which are investigating the similarly signed ballots, Weinstein instead composed a single-spaced, three-page screed to the Suburban Gazette. On county letterhead, no less.
Weinstein accused the paper of "fragmentary, inaccurate and negligent journalism...reminiscent of a supermarket tabloid." He reiterated the tired complaint that he was the victim of a Republican "political witch hunt." He asserted the paper was interested only in "printing negative, slanderous political garbage when it involves my family or my name."
Suburban Gazette Editor Jim DiNardo wasn't exactly enamored with the county treasurer's rambling prose.
After excerpting some of Weinstein's whining, DiNardo dismissed the missive as "a typical John Weinstein letter (like) he has been writing since he was a teenager." Quoting former President Harry Truman , DiNardo had this advice for the treasurer: "Like a true Democrat once said, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.'"
ABSENTEE ANALYSIS. Speaking of those pesky voter-fraud allegations, our friends at the Pennsylvania Economy League unearthed an interesting trend after analyzing Kennedy Township's 1998 primary absentee ballots.
They found a disproportionately high number of absentee voters opposed creating the county executive-council form of government. County voters approved the referendum, which also permits the consolidation of county row offices — such as the treasurer's position — in 2003.
When the referendum was approved, Weinstein was deputy treasurer. He was preparing for a 1999 campaign to succeed his boss, former Treasurer Mary Alice McDonough , who was retiring.
The Economy League found that in Kennedy Township that year, 81 percent of absentee ballots contained votes against home rule. In the overall township tally, only 64 percent voted no.
The group also found Kennedy Township had one of the highest percentages of all votes against home rule coming from absentee ballots. Curiously, 6.3 percent of all Kennedy Township votes against the referendum were cast by absentee ballots. In most municipalities only 1 percent to 2 percent of the no votes were cast by absentee ballots, according to the league.
What does all this mean⢠We'll rely on the opinion of PEL Project Manager Brian Jensen , expressed in a note last week to his boss, PEL Managing Director Jim Turner : "Looks to me like if someone was in fact messing with the absentee ballots...they didn't favor home rule."
