Pa. Governor Hopefuls Focus On Philly Voters
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Gubernatorial candidates Dan Onorato and Tom Corbett pursued votes on voter's home turf Sunday, visiting neighborhood churches, diners and taverns on the last weekend of the campaign to win over the undecided and make certain their supporters cast ballots in Tuesday's election.
Both candidates concentrated on Philadelphia and its suburbs, which account for one-third of the state's 8.5 million voters.
Corbett, the state attorney general and Republican nominee, visited several black churches through early afternoon. At the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith in south Philadelphia, he urged congregants to go to the polls.
"Go vote," he said. "Hopefully you'll vote for me."
Democrat Onorato began his day in his home city of Pittsburgh campaigning with Sen. Bob Casey at a diner, but within hours he was in the opposite end of the state being greeted by a rowdy crowd of union loyalists at a south Philadelphia tavern.
Onorato, the elected executive of Allegheny County, said he discounted speculation that turnout in heavily Democratic Philadelphia would be low on Election Day.
"I don't believe it," he shouted in the crowded bar. "I can see the excitement right now."
Independent polls have generally showed Corbett leading since the primary, although a Muhlenberg College/Allentown Morning Call tracking poll of likely voters released Sunday showed Corbett losing ground, from a 15 point lead on Wednesday to 7 points in the four-day telephone survey that ended Saturday.
"The polls are still all over the place. It's crazy," Onorato said Sunday.
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