Letter sent to a Trib reporter and CCed as a LTE:
RE: http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/westmoreland/s_363299.html
Harrisburg Republicans have serious problems. Money flows to NEW Republicans. They don't do anything to grow their own.
Hence, W.PA witnesses money to the former Dem to defeatt Alan K. and money to the turncoat Dem, Michael Diven, to loose to Wayne Fontana in MY State Senate special election.
I was in the Diven, Fontana race. That fact was failed to be printed in your article. Both the D and R out-spent me about 500 to one. Yet Diven only out-voted me five to one.
It would be best if you mentioned my name as part of the race on May 17, 2005. As a Libertarian, I got 2,542 votes from a base of 250 registered Ls on a PRIMARY election day. Those great numbers, and more than 7% in a three way race, can't be ignored.
I'll be back.
Would you like me to mail you a copy of my campaign audio CD?
Thanks for the article and for telling the whole story. Not a single Libertarian voted for the outlandish pay raise. I would HAVE not only voted with the people, but would have been objecting in the open all along.
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Regola burned $1million to beat out Kukovich
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By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 13, 2005
When the final bills were tallied earlier this year, Bob Regola spent more than $1 million to win a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate.
Regola, of Hempfield Township, ousted two-term Sen. Allen Kukovich, a Manor Democrat. To do so took an unprecedented amount of cash, at least in Westmoreland County political circles.
According to records filed with the state election department, Regola's campaign earlier this year received in-kind contributions of more than $236,000 from the Republican Senate Campaign Committee and the state Republican Committee.
That additional money closed the books on what was the most controversial and expensive Westmoreland County political race in recent memory.
The final bills brought Regola's spending to $1.06 million. Combined, the cost of the campaigns for both candidates exceeded $1.75 million.
"It's higher than normal for the races we run," said Christy Short, executive director of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. "For someone who isn't established politically to go against an incumbent, that's what it takes."
The state committees, through direct gifts and in-kind contributions, paid for more than 90 percent of Regola's campaign. His campaign reports listed less than $100,000 in contributions from private citizens.
"Bob raised an impressive amount of money locally as a challenger," said Suzanne O'Berry, Regola's chief of staff.
Regola virtually was an unknown when he announced his candidacy against Kukovich. He served as a supervisor in Hempfield Township but had only recently switched to the GOP after first getting elected on the local level as a Democrat.
Kukovich, a two-term senator, also had served 20 years as a representative in the state House.
Kukovich, who serves as director of Gov. Ed Rendell's Western Pennsylvania office, also had strong support from state sources. His campaign received large cash donations from politicians throughout the state, but reports listed just $137,000 came from Democratic Party coffers.
"If they were clear about their finances, it would have been the same," O'Berry said.
Kukovich, though, denied that Democrats financed his re-election bid with the same fervor as his opponents. He said the GOP's efforts were the culmination of four years of work.
"Part of the irony was that I was targeted because I worked with Republicans and got things done," Kukovich said.
The Regola-Kukovich race was the first of what appear to be a number of high-profile state races that the GOP has targeted to bankroll.
The spending continued this year.
Republican Party interests pumped more than $460,000 into the Allegheny County state Senate race between Republican state Rep. Michael Diven and Democrat Wayne Fontana, an Allegheny County councilman.
Fontana defeated Diven in a special election in the spring.
Rich Cholodofsky can be reached at rcholodofsky@tribweb.com or (724) 830-6293.
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