McCord Makes It Official

It wasn't exactly a surprise but State Treasurer Rob McCord has announced that he is running for governor.  Campaign website: www.robmccord.com  .  Here is the official announcement:

Today at events in Blue Bell, PA at Montgomery County Community College and in Pittsburgh at the apprenticeship training center at IBEW Local 5, State Treasurer Rob McCord announced his campaign for Pennsylvania Governor.  McCord cited the need to start investing in Pennsylvania families again as well as the importance of prioritizing education, standing up for seniors, and creating jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians.

“Somewhere along the way Governor Corbett decided to stop investing in Pennsylvania families,” said McCord.  “I think that’s been a terrible mistake and I’m going to make sure we start investing again.  That means reversing the devastating cuts he made to the K-12 system, making college more affordable, protecting seniors’ pensions, helping seniors stay in their homes longer, and prioritizing job creation. Tom Corbett has been a bad governor and I’m ready to get us back on track.”

Raised by a single mother from the age of four, McCord also highlighted his personal story which included overcoming learning challenges to graduate from Lower Merion High School, Harvard, and later the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

“My dad left when I was four and those first few years were tough,” said McCord. “I know there were families that had it worse than we did, but I also knew at an early age what economic insecurity felt like.  My mom, to her credit, never gave up.  She was a teacher and, as you might guess, she believed in education. When I think back on those early years, what amazes me is that my brother and I never had any doubt that we could do anything we put our minds to – so long as we were willing to work for it. Our dreams were never limited by who we knew or how much money we had. I went to public school here in Pennsylvania; got a great education that allowed me to continue on to Harvard and later, the Wharton School of Business. Looking back on it, it was education that opened the door for me. That’s why I feel so passionately about making sure we give today’s kids the same opportunities I had.”
McCord also detailed the ways in which he’s stood up to Tom Corbett when he’s made bad proposals.

“I know a lot of people are talking about taking on Tom Corbett, but I’ve been doing it since he was elected,” said McCord.  “When I became treasurer I knew I’d need to focus on cutting waste, improving efficiency, and making the office more customer friendly, but what I didn’t know was how much of my time would be spent standing up to a bad governor.  When he tried to privatize the Pennsylvania lottery and sell it to a company in Great Britain, I said no. When he tried to pay a website company $5.1 million in a no-bid contract, I refused to pay it. And when he eliminated health care for 41,000 working Pennsylvanians, I stood up and called him on it. The way I see it, the only way we’re going to stop him for good is to make sure he doesn’t get re-elected. And after we beat him, the first thing I’ll do is reverse the devastating, destructive cuts he made to our education system. We owe at least that much to Pennsylvania’s families.” 

 McCord also launched his new campaign website today at www.robmccord.com.