State who cried Wolf

Democrat Tom Wolf defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett last night to become Pennsylvania’s 47th governor.

Wolf, who will take office in January, has no prior experience as an elected official, but earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, volunteered in the Peace Corps in India for two years and acted as CEO of his family’s business, which manufactures specialty building products. In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Wolf to serve as the Secretary of Revenue. 

This was the first time a candidate unseated an incumbent in the last four decades since the Pennsylvania. governor could pursue re-election. Many predictions about the race favored Wolf, as Corbett received low approval ratings throughout his term. “I’ve found that the only way to get things done right is to listen, to treat people fairly and to include everyone in the process,” Wolf said in his official statement on his website. “It’s that kind of collaboration that allowed me to turn my former business around, and it’s the approach we need to take to bring about the bright future this great commonwealth deserves.”

Pitt students weighed in on the election results and the prospects of Wolf being a successful governor.

Dan Lapidus said the issues most important to him are education, jobs and LGBTQA rights. 

“One of the reasons I supported Wolf and worked on his campaign is that I felt like he was going to undo the serious damage that Corbett did to our state’s education,” Lapidus, a freshman history and political science and philosophy major, said.

Lapidus said he trusts Wolf on the economy. 

“He not only ran a business, but he ran a business that treated its workers ethically,” he said. “He made sure that his workers were well-paid.” 

In the first six months of Wolf’s governorship, Lapidus would like to see details for a plan to increase jobs in the state. 

“It doesn’t have to get passed [in that time]. I understand that politics work very slowly,” Lapidus said. “I would also like to see some movement on marijuana. The results from Colorado in particular are quite good in terms of economics.”

Joseph Streets, a junior actuarial math, ecology and evolution dual major, said he would like to see Wolf revise Pennsylvania’s education budget and that environmental issues are also important to him.

“There’s the whole natural gas market that’s providing a lot of jobs, but I do think [Wolf] should try to get us to cut back on coal more,” Streets said.

Cameron Linton, president of Pitt College Republicans, said he thinks Corbett may have lost because he did not address issues regarding teachers’ unions and education funding until the final months of the campaign.

College students, Linton said, likely voted for Wolf because they are more likely to be idealistic. 

“Liberals are not stupid,” he said, “But young people tend to be more receptive to idealistic platforms.”

It is difficult to speculate about Wolf’s possible performance since he is new to being an elected official, Linton said, but he said he hopes to see Wolf work on pension reform. 

“I want to make my state better,” Wolf said at his acceptance speech.