Shimkus supports House leader

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com
Aug 14 2008
"Mr. Murphy now has evidence to claim Mr. Shimkus:

■ Lied about where he lived. In March, a Commonwealth Court judge threw Mr. Shimkus off the Democratic primary ballot, ruling he intentionally deceived voters by using a Scranton address on his nomination petition when he really lived in Throop.

■ Tried to head off growing displeasure with Mr. DeWeese among House Democrats by e-mailing them to ask for end to the calls for Mr. DeWeese to give up his leadership post."

In an e-mail he never intended to become public, state Rep. Frank Shimkus interrupted the political momentum he gained from a remarkable write-in candidacy.

The e-mail begged fellow Democratic state legislators to stop calling on House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese to resign his leadership post over the worst scandal in Pennsylvania politics in decades.

Whether Mr. Shimkus can regain the momentum or whether his e-mailed defense of Mr. DeWeese is enough to propel former City Councilman Kevin Murphy to victory in the 113th Legislative District race is uncertain.

But Mr. Murphy now has more ammunition as he aims to portray his opponent as an untrustworthy man who broke his promise to reform Harrisburg.

So far, 10 Democratic legislators, including state Rep. John Yudichak, D-119, have called for Mr. DeWeese to resign as leader because of Bonusgate — the scandal that led to the arrests of a dozen former House staffers and legislators over a scheme that paid bonuses out of state tax dollars for working on political campaigns.

Mr. Shimkus contends resignation calls should take place in private conversations with Mr. DeWeese or in Democratic caucus meetings and points out the leader hasn’t been charged. Public displays of outrage create an antagonistic caucus atmosphere that will only distract from House Democrats’ legislative agenda come September, he contends.

“We have a process and maybe Bill will be voted out by all of us, but we should all discuss it behind closed doors, in caucus, together, and make the decision together,” Mr. Shimkus said in the e-mail, according to capitolwire.com, a Harrisburg-based news agency.

Mr. Shimkus said Wednesday he only wanted the matter handled privately because legislative leaders assured him a special session on reforming the legislature was “in the works.” A special session might force Mr. DeWeese to resign, he said.

That might or might not be true, but for the moment Mr. Murphy is the only one in the 113th district race calling for the ouster of a leader who claims ignorance of the Bonusgate events.

“He (Mr. Shimkus) ran in 2006 as a reformer,” Mr. Murphy said. “He, in his own words, was going to go down to fix a broken Harrisburg. ... It’s about a history of actions and the integrity of your work ... I don’t believe Frank has been honest.”

Mr. Murphy now has evidence to claim Mr. Shimkus:

■ Lied about where he lived.

In March, a Commonwealth Court judge threw Mr. Shimkus off the Democratic primary ballot, ruling he intentionally deceived voters by using a Scranton address on his nomination petition when he really lived in Throop.

In the judge’s words, it was “a purposeful misrepresentation made in bad faith and with intent to deceive the electorate.”

■ Tried to head off growing displeasure with Mr. DeWeese

among House Democrats by e-mailing them to ask for end to the calls for Mr. DeWeese to give up his leadership post.

During his career as a television and radio reporter/anchor, Mr. Shimkus presumably favored transparency in government, Mr. Murphy said Wednesday.

“Now you want to hide behind closed doors. That’s not right,” Mr. Murphy said. “And it doesn’t do anything to restore the public faith in the state legislature.”

Links

Comments

Events

Shimkus supports House leader

Post new comment