Issued November 04, 2014
YORK, Pa.-- A set of issues that put working families' issues first enabled Tom Wolf to win the race for Pennsylvania governor tonight. Wolf, who campaigned for higher wages, good schools and better access to healthcare, defeated Tom Corbett, who becomes the first Pennsylvania governor ever defeated in a bid for re-election.
Tom Wolf showed that voters want candidates who will stand with working people and will get the economy working again for everyone, not just the wealthy few," said Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). "I congratulate him and his campaign--as well as the tens of thousands of people who have worked for more than three years to lay the groundwork to defeat Tom Corbett."
Henry noted that that the last three-plus years in the Keystone State illuminate a path forward for the issues and candidates that matter to working men and women.
Shortly after incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett's (R) election in 2010, SEIU and partners began to wage a long-term strategic campaign to hold Corbett accountable for his reckless policies and ensure his defeat in 2014. This work included paid media and intensive field campaigns that mobilized thousands of SEIU members. It called attention to the fact that Corbett led the charge to cut $1 billion from public schools and hundreds of millions from social services.
Over the course of this long-term accountability campaign, Corbett's favorability and job approval declined. By early 2013, Corbett was considered to be the most vulnerable Republican incumbent governor in the country. A focus on economic justice provided an electoral backdrop against which Tom Wolf's populist economic message could be successful.
Marilyn Mercado of SEIU Local 668 was one of 60 SEIU members who spent five days a week this fall canvassing for Tom Wolf. "We were out there out informing people that there are ways to bring Pennsylvania back. Tom Wolf understands that working people are struggling and he supports the things regular people want. He will put teachers back in the classroom, work to create good jobs, expand healthcare and raise the minimum wage."
"What this election shows is that a concerted effort to hold lousy public officials accountable, from the beginning, continuously, can yield real results," Henry said.