HARRISBURG -- Financial support for Dan Onorato is rolling down the turnpike.
Turnpike Commissioner Jim Dodaro included an endorsement note for Onorato in the invitation to a $1,000-a-plate money-raiser Thursday night on Onorato's behalf in Pittsburgh.
Onorato, the county controller, is the Democratic nominee for Allegheny County chief executive in the November general election against incumbent Jim Roddey, a Republican.
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and key Cabinet secretaries are the drawing card for the event at the Omni William Penn, Downtown. Dodaro, a long-time political figure in Southwestern Pennsylvania, is a member of Onorato's Finance Committee and said he is making money-raising calls on Onorato's behalf.
"I really believe Dan Onorato will be elected Allegheny's next county executive," Dodaro wrote in the invitation. "This event will afford you the opportunity to meet with Dan, Gov. Rendell and some key Cabinet secretaries." State Revenue Secretary Greg Fajt, a former House member from Allegheny County, is the headline act with Rendell.
Dodaro pointed out that the memo is not on turnpike stationary and lists his home address in White Oak.
Dodaro is one of many well-known Onorato supporters whose endorsements are included to people targeted by the campaign, said Kevin Kinross, Onorato's campaign manager.
Turnpike Executive Director Joseph Brimmeier, another politician with roots in the county government once run by Democrat Tom Foerster, also has been helping the Onorato campaign.
"Oh yeah, (Brimmeier) has been a friend and supporter of the campaign," said Kinross. That's in his personal capacity, not as the turnpike's top executive, Kinross said. Brimmeier has not been raising money for Onorato, Kinross said.
Brimmeier, his assistant and two other turnpike commissioners are on a junket to Paris this week to attend a toll association meeting. Brimmeier, a long-time aide to the late Foerster, has not returned calls left with the turnpike's public relations director. Brimmeier played a key role in the Rendell campaign last year,
The turnpike commission oversees the 530-mile toll road that runs from New Jersey to the Ohio line. The commission is one of the bastions of patronage jobs in state government. Governors and legislative leaders have fought for control of the agency. Efforts over the years by legislators to oversee the commission, or eliminate it, have been unsuccessful.
