The Larry Kane Report

STRANGE SIGNS

Now this is a sign of the times. On lawn signs throughout the area, the signs read Jim Matthews for Lt. Governor. That is all it says. Of course in Pa. when you run for Lt. Governor in the general election, you run as a team. In this case Republican Lynn Swann is running for Governor. So the ticket is Swann-Matthews, as it is Rendell –Baker Knoll on the Democratic side.

The signs for Matthews for Lt. Governor are interesting because no where is the top of the ticket mentioned. It is common to see signs just plugging the name of the candidate for Governor, but its most unusual to see signs just for the number two person.

I can only assume that these are leftover signs from the primary election, or perhaps the Republican party in Montgomery County, where I spotted the signs, wants to plug only the name of Matthews, who is a County Commissioner running on his own turf.

Maybe Commissioner Matthews is looking ahead to next year’s County Commission elections where Democrats may have a good chance of getting control of the courthouse. In any event, the Matthews for Lt. Governor signs are interesting.

If they disappear by tomorrow, you will know that something is up.

SENATE BATTLE

On the Santorum-Casey battle for the Senate: Both campaigns have about 2.9 million dollars in cash left. That guarantees that your favorite TV and radio programs will be peppered with mostly negative images over the next several weeks.

IN THE TRENCHES –

One of the more fascinating races in the Pa. Legislature is the 164th district where well-entrenched Mario Civera faces one of the youngest candidates in the nation. Democrat Casey Roncaglione just turned 21 years old. Heavily outspent, and facing a long time incumbent, Roncaglione, a student at Temple University, is running hard in this Delaware County District. In the coming days, I’ll be talking to both the incumbent and the young challenger. It is an interesting race in more ways than one.