State senator Vincent Fumo, one of the leading powerbrokers in Pennsylvania politics for the last generation, plans to give up his reelection bid and retire from the legislature at the end of the year.
Fumo, 64, still recovering from a heart attack 10 days ago, plans to announce his decision this morning at a press conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, according to an informed source. At Fumo’s side will be Gov. Rendell, who said last week that he would support Fumo for another term if the senator asked for his endorsement.
Fumo faces three challengers in the Democratic primary on April 22, and perhaps a more difficult test next September, when he is scheduled for a federal trial on a 139-count corruption indictment. Even if he survived the primary, he’d have to endure a general election campaign with daily headlines coming out of his federal trial, revolving around charges that he benefitted personally from the operations of a non-profit community group called the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.
Ok, this post’s title and text are awful considering the senator’s recent health problems. Honestly, I wish him a long, healthy and happy life, though hopefully it’s spent in jail.
Fumo is the only person who has pushed me to vote for a Green or a Republican or whatever other fringe group was running against him. I’m fairly certain I voted for some awful people in the process, but it was purely protest. I doubt he’s ever won by less than 70% in a general election. But whatever, the news that he’s dropping out is good for Philadelphia. Better news would be that Johnny Doc doesn’t take his place.
Susie,
I haven’t read your blog in a while but I’m pretty sure after scanning a few articles I know who you’re supporting for President. Would you consider, since we have six more weeks until the Pennsylvania primary, posting an article that lists the top ten reasons someone should consider voting for your preferred candidate? I’ve not seen an article like the one I’m suggesting on any blogs. Maybe I haven’t looked in the right places. I keep hearing about the experience of both Democratic candidates but it hasn’t seemed to occur to anyone to list the achievements of each in a crisp, concise manner. I’m only interested in the Democratic choices and don’t consider the other major party or third party candidates a viable option. If you’d rather, just list the reasons why I should vote for your candidate, and not both.
I consider myself still undecided at this point and am willing to be swayed one way or the other in the next six weeks, given good reason.
Thank you.
While this is good news it still doesn’t address several issues that allowed Fumo to gain the power he did over the years. First and possibly largest is the cesspool that the Pennsylvania legislature is and how the it is one of the largest but the budget is essentially the work of a few leaders in the back room.
The second is issue of one party rule and how it leads to abuses of power. It’s not something confined to Philadelphia or to the Democratic party. You have it with the Republicans in Delaware County and even historically in Philadelphia prior to 1952. No a Republican winning Fumo’s seat is not the answer but someone outside the Democratic power structure or maybe even the party is the answer.
John writes: “No a Republican winning Fumo’s seat is not the answer but someone outside the Democratic power structure or maybe even the party is the answer.”
Luckily that candidate exists in Philadelphia: Anne Dicker.
I thought she might be running but wasn’t fully sure. She does bring a lot to the table. One of the biggest is she seems to actually want to listen and serve the neighborhood, such as opposing the casino’s.