Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is defending his use of campaign ads that focus on his would-be Democratic opponents, despite the fact that the primary has not yet been held.
“If you look at the (Democratic) debates that have been going on and you look at the ads that are going on, they are running ads against me,” said Corbett, who calls his ads education pieces.
The most recent flight of ads from the Republican incumbent mentions all four of the Democrats running in that party’s primary but focuses the most on front-runner Tom Wolf, prompting political insiders to say he is trying to knock out one of the four candidates.
Corbett said he is simply starting to “push back” a little bit but with no intention of having an impact on the Democratic primary.
“I don’t get to pick which one," he said. "We are going to be facing one of the four, but it’s an education process.”
Polls show that Wolf would give Corbett the most trouble in the general election, but the governor’s poor polling numbers could make it an uphill battle no matter who the Democrats chose.
At one time, the governor was going to have to face Bob Guzzardi in the primary but the real estate developer and conservative political activist was tossed off the ballot after having his signature petitions challenged.
Corbett feels his most recent ad campaign is warranted.
“Campaign ads have been run against me basically since I entered office, starting by various teachers unions in Philadelphia and statewide who have run ads against me since day one,” Corbett said.
