Corbett visit remains a mystery two weeks later

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett’s visit to Pitt remains a mystery almost two… Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett’s visit to Pitt remains a mystery almost two weeks after he was spotted on campus.

State Attorney General Corbett walked out of the Cathedral of Learning Sept. 9 shortly after 10:30 a.m. after a “private meeting” on campus, according to Pitt College Republicans president Rachel Feinstein. The unexplained visit to campus leaves the prospects of a gubernatorial debate at Pitt, which was originally scheduled for tomorrow, extremely slim.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato agreed in June to a debate at Pitt, whereas Corbett has yet to respond to the invitation, said Graduate and Professional Student Association president Nila Devanath.

Since Corbett’s meeting at Pitt, no officials for his campaign have made any statements regarding the meeting. His campaign has not returned more than half a dozen calls for comment.

Feinstein said at the time that the meeting was not a public campaign event, and refused further comment at the time. This past week, Feinstein said she had no new information to share regarding Corbett’s campus visit.

In mid-June, the GPSA contacted both candidates in hopes of hosting a debate. Devanath said the Onorato campaign accepted the invitation on June 22, but since then his campaign said they would not be at Pitt tomorrow — the scheduled day for the debate.

Devanath said Onorato might participate in a later scheduled debate, but it depends upon Corbett’s appearance.

Corbett’s campaign did not inform her of the meeting, Devanath said, and officials from the Republican Committee of Allegheny County declined to comment on it.

Since the primaries in May, Corbett has not made any campaign appearances on campus.

Spokesman for the Onorato campaign Brian Herman said that Corbett’s appearance on campus was “interesting” but declined to comment further.

Currently, Corbett is not scheduled to make a public campaign appearance at Pitt. Regardless of Corbett’s actions, Onorato will visit Pitt before the election, Herman said.