Sunday, March 6, 2011

County Democratic Committee Endorses Fitzgerald

Allegheny County Democratic Committee members endorsed Rich Fitzgerald for county executive today by a margin smaller than the Fitzgerald family dinner table (five-vote difference reported).

Chelsa Wagner was endorsed (by a plurality) for county controller.

The City Democratic Committee, a primary driver as InsolvenCity has been steered into a ditch for decades, generally followed its traditional course (the ideal candidate for endorsement would be an illiterate felon employed by the Public Works department and sponsored by an uncle named Costa, Flaherty or Caliguiri) in council endorsements:
District 1: Vince Pallus
District 3: Jeff Koch
District 5: Corey O'Connor
District 7: Tony Ceoffe Jr.
District 9: Phyllis Copeland-Mitchell
City committee members rejected incumbents Darlene Harris (1), Bruce Kraus (3), Patrick Dowd (7) and Ricky Burgess (9); they did not reject incumbent council member Doug Shields (5) for council, because he didn't seek the endorsement; instead, they denied him endorsement for district justice, preferring Hugh McGough.

Mike Marmo and Alex Bicket were endorsed for Common Pleas judge.

The party endorsement doesn't mean as much as it once did (which explains why Pittsburgh has not yet reached the Gary, Indiana, stage of deterioration), and the Mark Patrick Flahertys and Bruce Krauses will withstand today's disappointment and regroup tomorrow, but every endorsed candidate can enjoy the rare good day along the campaign trail today.

UPDATE: Darlene Harris pledges a continued campaign in District 1, as does Chris Zurawsky in District 5.

UPPERDATE: The volume of arrivals at Infinonymity from searches reflects enough interest in endorsement votes to warrant posting results at the Democratic Committee website. (Also: Sorry we don't have information concerning the other endorsements.)

Infinonytune: Fight For Your Right To Party, Coldplay

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

No one should be surprised that Harris, Kraus and Dowd all lost. They all had ward chair people against them Jeff Koch is a Ward chair in his own Council District...it's ashamed that this party will continually endorse good candidates.

They did the right thing today with Fitzgerald but totally screwed up on Harris, Dowd and Kraus.

Anonymous said...

This shows Infy is an insider or at least has inside connections willing to feed info. The PG is reporting just Fitzgerald and Wagner so far and the party website is still showing the 2010 endorsements.

Anonymous said...

And your point is? There are over 1000 members of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee...

Infinonymous said...

Why assume inside sources? We might be using the DARPA technology that deciphers keystrokes from outside a room.

Anonymous said...

All illiterate felons are offended by your remarks, Infy.

Infinonymous said...

Nah, they're too busy celebrating endorsements.

Tomorrow, they'll be pissed.

MH said...

If they know how to use white out and a photocopier, they're still over qualified for the PA Senate.

Anonymous said...

Looking at who the Committee endorsed, it looks like they want a rubber-stamp Council for the Mayor.

Infinonymous said...

Why presume city committee members can associate cause and effect to that degree?

A more logical explanation: They simply select the least qualified candidate.

Anonymous said...

I will vote against every person endorsed by the City Democratic Committee.

Anonymous said...

Infy:

Was there ever a doubt that President Harris would continue?

She is, afterall, the incumbent, and inherently entitled to fight to keep that which she curently holds?

I would have been disappointed if she dropped out.....

The same goes for the rest of the unendorsed incumbents, as none of them got the endorsement today.....

MH said...

They simply select the least qualified candidate.

That implies they can recognize a qualified candidate. It's good to have one of these committee members on your block so the streets get maintained, but you don't want to live right next door.

Infinonymous said...

It's just a theory (like gravity), but the evidence suggests city committee members can recognize (and are attracted to) a lack of qualifications.

The odds against their recorded performance occurring by random selection are astronomical.

Anonymous said...

been lookin to see who was endorsed since 6...infy is the man!
wonder who does the leg work to secure the committee vote - think they accomplished their goal and congratulations are in order. Heres hoping it is worthless on primary day - GO DARLENE!

Anonymous said...

lot of talk about other people for somebody scared of putting out their own name is all I gotta say

MH said...

Probably a Pallus voter right there

Infinonymous said...

We doubt readers are offended by pseudonymity, but in an effort to please our anonymous critic, we are prepared to meet and disclose identity.

How about the east shore of Panther Hollow Lake, say -- well, it will take a couple of hours to get there -- let's say 3 a.m. to be safe.

See you there.

P.S. You need to promise you will keep it to yourself, or we won't show.

Selena said...

Hey, Connie -- you want to go meet that guy, or should I handle it?

Selena

Connie said...

Nah, Selena, if it's OK with you I'd probably have a hard time getting there tonight, so you handle this one and I'll catch the next one. Thanks.

Connie

P.S. Let me know if he's cute

MH said...

Be careful not to slip when you are coming down from Prospect Hill.

Selena said...

Dammit, Connie, looks like we messed up again and used the comments section.

Selena

Anonymous said...

go to bed Connie

go to bed Selena

Doug needs you Connie

asdf said...

How about the east shore of Panther Hollow Lake, say -- well, it will take a couple of hours to get there -- let's say 3 a.m. to be safe.

I knew you were from the suburbs. (or shadyside/squirrel hill)

James said...

Anonymous said...
lot of talk about other people for somebody scared of putting out their own name is all I gotta say

...says the Anonymous poster without the hint (or apparently understanding) of irony.

I do not mind Infy's pseudonymity. Unlike threadshitting trolls, I do not need to know someone's name to gauge the value of what they have to say. The only time the identity of the speaker is of great importance would be cases where there might be a conflict of interest (such as a judge not reporting his wife's income from lobbying firms) or hypocrisy (such as a multiple divorcee expounding upon the sanctity of marriage), neither of which seem likely here.

If that's too long to read, ask yourself this: You don't need to know the name of the restaurant critic to read their review, do you? So STFU.

Anonymous said...

Infy,

What's the overlap between your endorsements and the Committee's? So far, the only one I can tell that you seem to have had the wrong instincts on (that is you went with no qualifications and name recognition just like the Committee) is Corey O'Connor over Chris Zurawsky. If that's your only mistake, then I applaud you overall on your instincts.

Anonymous said...

James, my new fav phrase: threadshitting trolls.

Infinonymous said...

From memory, the committee-endorsed Infindorsees are Corey O'Connor and Chelsa Wagner (who shared an Infindorsement).

Marmo and Bicket were reasonable choices from a lame field; the Infindorsement was a lament concerning a broken process that spawns unqualified-to-mediocre judges.

Wagner, Marmo and Bicket likely received most of their votes from committee members not of the city.

City committee members, as is customary, thoroughly beclowned themselves.

Anonymous said...

I actually see a somewhat different result here. Maybe the committee was tired of all the incumbents and all the bickering?

Ricky V Burgess said...

Shawn Carter - please stop talking to yourself. You are making both of us look bad.

Anonymous said...

The committee was full of appointees who were loyal to the candidates who won.

Since when is discussion at the Council table "bickering"

What is wrong with healthy debate of the issues? Should Council just roll over for Mayor monkey?

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see a breakdown of how many city committee members work for the city or have a family member who works for the city.

MH said...

If you have to see the breakdown, you haven't been paying attention.

James said...

I'd like to see a breakdown of how many city committee members work for the city or have a family member who works for the city.

1:1