By Sandra Basu
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 23

Delegates: 191

Chairman: Robert P. Casey Jr.

Hotels: Omni Los Angeles (213) 617-3300
Westin Bonaventure (213) 624-1000

1996 Election:
Clinton – 49%
Dole – 40%
Perot – 10%

Pennsylvania officials took a half-hearted step this year toward joining the rush of states that pushed their presidential primaries to the front of the nominating calendar. They moved the Keystone State's primary from its traditional late April position up to April 4.

The switch didn't matter. By the time Pennsylvanians voted, Vice President Al Gore had already knocked his only rival - former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley - from the contest. Gore easily won the state's primary and claimed all but 19 of the state's 160 delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are pledged to a specific candidate.

Including the delegate slots that go to officially unpledged party officials and dignitaries, Pennsylvania will have a total of 191 delegates on the convention floor.

Pennsylvania's bloc of 23 electoral votes may be a must-win for Gore, and it won't be easy in one of the nation's ultimate partisan "swing" states.

Republicans hold the three major statewide offices with Gov. Tom Ridge - who received serious consideration this year as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate - and Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum. But the state's U.S. House delegation is split almost down the middle, with Democrats holding an 11-10 advantage.

The GOP controls both chambers of the state legislature, but the Pennsylvania House is both one of the largest and most evenly divided in the nation: Heading into an election year in which all 203 seats are on the ballot, the Republicans hold a one-seat majority.

President Clinton, with Gore as his running mate, won Pennsylvania in both 1992 and 1996 by 9 percentage-point margins, but failed to win a majority vote either time. He defeated Republican incumbent George Bush by 45 percent to 36 percent in 1992 and challenger Bob Dole in 1996 by 49 percent to 40 percent.

The Pennsylvanian with the most prominent role in this year's national campaign is former Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell, who now is general chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Rendell was widely credited during his two-term tenure as mayor, which ended in January, for spearheading an economic revival in his long-struggling city - and, ironically, for attracting this year's Republican National Convention to Philadelphia.

Rallying the Pennsylvania convention delegation to Gore's cause is the keeper of a name well known in Democratic circles. The delegation chairman is state Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. - the son of the late Robert P. Casey, Pennsylvania's governor in 1987-95.

The elder Casey, who had endured numerous ailments and survived a heart and liver transplant in 1993 while serving as governor, died May 30.

The son appears to be following in the political footsteps of his father. He was elected state auditor general, a position his father formerly held, in 1996 and is also eyeing the 2002 governor's race for the seat held by term-limited Republican Ridge.

"It would be highly unlikely if I didn't enter the governor's race. . . . I have a very strong interest in that position," said Casey in a recent interview.

Like his father, Casey strongly opposes abortion and says it is one of just a few issues on which he differs with Gore.

His father stood out among Democrats because of his anti-abortion views. In 1992, he requested and was denied an opportunity to speak on the issue at the Democratic convention in New York City that first nominated Bill Clinton for president. Casey Sr. later indicated he might challenge Clinton for the 1996 nomination; he demurred, but skipped the 1996 convention in Chicago that sent Clinton on to his second term in the White House.

Casey Jr. is widely regarded as a favorite for re-election this year as auditor in a contest with Republican state Rep. Katie True.

It is his brother, Patrick Casey, who is running this year in one of the nation's most-watched contests. He is in a rematch of 1998's closest House race, the open-seat battle in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District that he lost to Republican Donald L. Sherwood by just 515 votes. Patrick Casey will be attending the Democratic convention, though not as a delegate.

Other Pennsylvania Democratic delegates on the national watch list are U.S. Rep. Ron Klink, who is challenging Santorum for the Senate, and freshman Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel, who is defending his "swing" seat in suburban Philadelphia's 13th Congressional District from his Republican challenger, state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf.

Former state Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll - who headed the 1996 Democratic convention delegation - is seeking a comeback in what amounts to something of a family feud. The state's term-limit law barred Knoll from seeking re-election in 1996, and her daughter, Mina Baker Knoll, ran for the post and lost to Republican Barbara Hafer. This year, the elder Knoll will challenge Hafer.

A Democratic delegate with a last name usually associated with Republicans, federal prosecutor Jim Eisenhower, will oppose Republican incumbent Mike Fisher in the state attorney general race this November. The Democrat has said he is distantly related to the late Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, but emphasized his working-class roots during his campaign for the April 4 primary.

Several other prominent political names are also found in the delegation. State Sen. Allyson Y. Schwartz, who opposed Klink for the Democratic Senate nomination, is a delegate. Schwartz is now the eastern Pennsylvania chairman for Klink's campaign.

Former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, briefly a Senate candidate this year, is a delegate. She also endured some embarrassment early this year when she and her husband, former Iowa Democratic Rep. Edward Mezvinsky, separately filed for bankruptcy, revealing a complicated tangle of failed business dealings.

Organized labor, a key constituency of the state Democratic Party, will be well-represented in the delegation. Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William M. George; United Steel Workers of America International Vice President Leon Lynch; and Gerald W. McEntee, the international president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are among the delegates.

PENNSYLVANIA NOTABLES: Democratic National Committee General Chairman Edward G. Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia; Rep. John P. Murtha, ranking Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; U.S. Rep. Ron Klink, who this year is challenging Republican Sen. Rick Santorum; U.S. Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel, who faces a challenge from Republican state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf in one of the nation's most-watched House races; state Auditor Robert P. Casey Jr., the delegation chairman; state Democratic Party Chairman Christine Tartaglione; former state Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll; former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky; state Sen. Allyson Y. Schwartz; Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William M. George; United Steel Workers of America International Vice President Leon Lynch; Gerald W. McEntee, the international president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.