Allegheny County Coroner Cyril H. Wecht, a fixture in local Democratic Party politics for decades, is expected to endorse Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's re-election bid.
Specter's campaign has scheduled a news conference Monday at Wecht's Downtown law office for a "major announcement," according to a release. Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas confirmed on Friday the event would be an endorsement by the coroner.
Wecht couldn't be reached for comment.
Wecht, a former Democratic county commissioner and past chairman of the county Democratic Committee, has long been a party stalwart. As the endorsed candidate in a party that touts solidarity, Wecht won the Democratic primary in the 1999 election for chief executive under the county's new home rule charter. He lost the election to Republican Jim Roddey.
Wecht also has taken strong party stands on local issues.
In November 2002, he compared Democrats who supported a Republican campaign for elimination of elected county row officers to Jews who side with Palestinians. The row offices, including sheriff and district attorney, are a Democratic stronghold.
"There are Jews like that, who want to return the West Bank," Wecht, who is Jewish, said at the time. "I don't need that kind of Jew, and I don't need that kind of Democrat."
Specter, who is seeking a fifth six-year term, is opposed in the Nov. 2 election by U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, the Democratic nominee. Both Specter and Hoeffel are from the Philadelphia area.
Political analyst Joseph Sabino Mistick, a Pittsburgh lawyer with ties to the Democratic Party, said he wasn't surprised to hear Wecht is planning to back Specter.
"It says that Arlen Specter has been very attentive in this part of the state in spite of the fact that local government here is controlled by the Democrats. He is now reaping what he sowed," Mistick said.
Hoeffel spokeswoman Kristin Carvell said Wecht's action won't sway Democrats.
"The bottom line is that it doesn't change the fact that Democrats in Western Pennsylvania and across the state are coming out to vote for Joe Hoeffel on Nov. 2," she said.
"Pennsylvanians statewide know that Arlen Specter has supported the failed Bush-Cheney administration policies a whopping 89 percent of the time, and they are ready for a change."
