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Tom Wolf Brings Business Skills To Run For Pa. Governor

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Tom Wolf admits that he is -- at this stage -- unknown to most Pennsylvanians.

"I think in the last poll that tried to determine name recognition that I saw, I think I had two percent, which I think is a mistake. I think it's high," Wolf told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday afternoon.

But pledging to spend $10 million of his own this spring, the York County businessman says he will soon be known to voters.

"People are looking for something different, and my credibility comes again from my story and from my ability to get that story out," noted Wolf.

That story, says the owner of the Wolf Organization that distributes American-made kitchen and building supplies, includes the way he treats his several hundred employees.

"I do pay all my employees 20 to 30 percent share of my profit every year cash distribution, and I do it because it's right," he says.

Wolf says Gov. Tom Corbett does not speak for job creators.

"I've run a business. I own a business. I know what it takes to build a business," said Wolf. "Crony capitalism is really not the way to build a good strong business or business environment."

Wolf, a Democrat who served as Secretary of Revenue under Gov. Ed Rendell, has very deep roots in south central Pennsylvania.

"It was my grandparents' house. It was built by my great-great-grandparents. I live there. I raised my family there," he said.

And with most of the candidates from the Philadelphia area, Wolf hopes western Pennsylvanians will identify with him.

"I am the only credible candidate I think living west of the Susquehanna River, and I try to claim that makes me a western Pennsylvanian."

While it's really true that nobody knows Tom Wolf, it's also true that most Pennsylvanians don't know the other candidates like Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, John Hanger, and all the others.

This race for governor is still wide open. The primary election is 19 weeks from Tuesday.

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