Republicans at their party's national convention remained determined — even angry — in their support of vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, even as potentially damaging revelations about her continued to brew, local and state sources attending the event said Tuesda......

Sen. John McCain's visit to York County on Tuesday not only assured those skeptical of his ability to side with conservatives, but proved he's willing, and ready, to put party differences aside to better the country, many who attended said. ...

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain likely will stop in Lancaster County today after a town-hall event in York County, an anonymous Republican official said Monday.However, just where and when McCain will make the stop remains unknown. And a number of local Republican leaders say t......

About 200 local Democrats, dressed in hippie, casual, hip-hop or business attire, crammed into Obama campaign headquarters in Lancaster city Thursday evening."They have to demean him," Mayor Rick Gray said, speaking of recent Republican attack ads aimed at Barack Obama, the Democ......

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain next week will make his first appearance in central Pennsylvania since becoming the GOP's presumptive nominee, a local campaign official confirmed Wednesday night.Frank Orban III, McCain's campaign co-chair in Lancaster County, said the A......

He's a Bible student with a knack for numbers, and he's now the Lancaster County Republican Committee's new executive director.He's 23-year-old Bill Coder of Lancaster, who's taking over a position left vacant since May, when Andrew Heath left to work with Anne Beiler o......

Republican Chet Beiler said Thursday morning that he would push for a change in Pennsylvania law to allow the office of auditor general to inspect the spending habits of the state Legislature.Beiler, the former chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee, also slammed current Aud......

Take any given road in the United States and count the number of vehicles using gasoline versus those that don't.After tallying your numbers, ask: Is it any wonder why the American economy suffers and every American driver puts less money into savings and investments when the pri......

Nearly 200 members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County gathered at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Farm and Home Center to pick new officers. By 7:15, they had re-elected David Dumeyer to a fourth term as chairman of the local GOP and approved a new slate of officers. Dumeyer was unopposed, a......

Elections are the purest means of holding government officials accountable.And if you desire accountability, it's essential to have as many competitive races as possible each November.Sadly, Pennsylvania has about as many truly competitive contests this year as the Phillies have......

County Republican Party Executive Director Andrew Heath is resigning to take a job in the private sector. Heath, who was named to run the county GOP in 2006, said he wasn't looking for a change, but he was approached by representatives of businesswoman Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Ann......

It was Sen. John McCain's turn on Saturday Night Live last weekend."What should we be looking for in our next president?" McCain asked during one segment. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old."McCain, a sprightly 71, told the audience he has the ne......

U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, a Chester County Republican who represents Lancaster, has signed on as a co-sponsor for a new bill aimed at illegal immigration.House Bill 5761 would cut off aid to countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens who come to the United States, commit a crime and ser......

A subtle movement has begun in the state House that, if it became law, would change who can vote in Pennsylvania's primary elections.One bill, authored by Democratic Rep. Jaret Gibbons, would allow the state's 374,350 registered Independents to vote in either the Republican or Demo......

At county Republican headquarters, Tuesday marked a quiet end to a fairly subdued campaign.The party faithful who gathered in the building on Columbia Avenue to watch results trickle in Tuesday evening formed a small, largely mellow group. It acknowledged few eyes were on the GOP, as Sen. ......

Republican state Senate candidate Lloyd Smucker, who has taken flak for his ties to builders, raised $33,500 at a construction-industry fundraiser last week, a new campaign finance report shows. That figure includes $20,000 alone from the Associated Builders and Contractors political-action com......

Once John McCain's bitter rival, Mitt Romney spoke here Thursday as one of McCain's top backers. Campaigning on behalf of McCain at the Lancaster County Republican Committee's spring banquet, Romney extolled the Arizona senator as the presidential candidate best able to deal with......

It is "possible but not probable" that Republican Mitt Romney would be Sen. John McCain's pick for vice president, the former Massachusetts governor told the Intelligencer Journal on Thursday.Romney, seen as the favorite to capture the GOP presidential nomination before his c......

A story appeared last week on Politico.com about frustration among Pennsylvania Democrats over the relative lack of candidate appearances in the state, especially by Sen. Barack Obama.For months, we've watched Obama and Sen. Hillary Cli......

President Clinton, speaking to a packed gymnasium in Berks County on Thursday, touted his wife's alternative energy plan as a way to turn around the country's economic woes."It is the only strategy that will create jobs in every rural area, suburban area and city in Pennsylvan......

Mitt Romney, once seen as the favorite to win the Republican nomination for president, will campaign in Lancaster County next month for Sen. John McCain, the man who forced him out of the race.The Lancaster County Republican Committee confirmed Wednesday that Romney will speak on behalf of......

Manheim-area businessman Chet Beiler now has a clear path to the Republican nomination for state auditor general. Beiler's only opponent in the April 22 GOP primary, accountant Chris Walsh of York County, quit the race after Beiler pointed out problems with Walsh's nomination petitions.......

On the morning of Feb. 5, Gov. Ed Rendell will stand in the state House of Representatives before a joint session of the Legislature to deliver his proposed budget.When you're talking about nearly $30 billion, a lot of sweat gets spent and a lot of pride's on the line. The gov......

They entered the night as heavy favorites.They both lost what they wanted.Neither Lloyd Smucker nor Gregory Sahd was able to garner an endorsement from the county Republican committee, despite balloting that stretched from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning at Conestoga Valley Mid......

Local Republican leaders are hopeful that one of five state Senate candidates will receive the GOP endorsement at tonight's convention, landing that candidate momentum, cash and a horde of volunteers heading into the April 22 primary.Dave Dumeyer, chairman of the Lancaster County Repub......

The next consequential event in the local 2008 election cycle happens Tuesday when the Lancaster County Republican Committee convenes to dole out endorsements.All eyes will be watching to see if someone in the race to succeed Gibson E. Armstrong as state senator will garner an endorsement.......

Republican Steve McDonald will no longer ask the local GOP to back his bid for state Senate, although he intends to campaign all the way to the April 22 primary."I'm not seeking the endorsement," McDonald said during a telephone interview. "That's the only comment I ......

If you wanted a clearer picture Saturday of who will emerge in the Republican primary to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, well, the only words I can offer are: "Not yet."Although local businessman Lloyd Smucker was the top votegetter in the straw poll taken by loc......

With just three days until they come face to face with local Republican Committee members for the first time as candidates, money is on the minds of most GOP hopefuls for the state Senate.Polled by the Intelligencer Journal Tuesday about what they see as the most important legislative issu......

And then there were five.Five Republicans from Lancaster and York counties are vying to fill the seat being vacated by retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong.The deadline for candidates filing with the Lancaster County GOP in order to win the party's endorsement was 5 p.m. Frid......

In the final weeks of the Lancaster County commissioners race, candidates turned heavily to expensive television and radio commercials for a final chance to get their message out. In all, the five candidates spent nearly $160,000 in the campaign's stretch run, with Democrat Molly Henders......

Molly Henderson injected nearly $70,000 of her own money into her failed campaign to win a second term as a Lancaster County commissioner, far outpacing what her opponents spent of their own money.Thursday was the deadline for candidates to submit their 30-day postelection campaign-finance......

The Lancaster County Republican Committee has asked a federal court to throw out a lawsuit brought against it by one of its members.In a brief filed Nov. 9 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, attorneys for the GOP said chairman Dave Dumeyer was within his Constitutional rights when he ......

The heads of the local Republican and Democratic parties both think their respective party came out strong as a result of Tuesday's election."We continue to elect more and more Democrats to office," Bruce Beardsley, chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said ......

As Janice Jimenez began campaigning a few weeks ago, a man approached her and told her the only reason she would win the election for magisterial district judge is because she is Latino and a woman."He was degrading," said Jimenez.She encouraged him to look at campaign lit......

Lynn Swann walked so many miles during his gubernatorial campaign last year that he wore a hole in his brand-new shoes.The 2006 Republican nominee for governor and former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Fame wide receiver wore the same pair of shoes Thursday night to the Lancaster County Repub......

Earlier this year, the commissioners race in Manheim Township looked humdrum. With a pair of seats open, two incumbent Republicans, Carol Simpson and Larry Downing, got the party's endorsement and were running unopposed. But in August, former township commissioner and produce farmer Ne......

A member of the Lancaster County Republican Committee is suing the party and its local chairman in federal court, claiming they violated her civil and free-speech rights by not allowing her to criticize two judicial candidates in the May primary. Millie Max, of Elizabethtown, claims the GOP, in......

Dinner this fall will be served with a side order of political celebrity. In the midst of the fall campaigns, both Republican and Democratic parties of Lancaster County throw their annual autumn banquets, and this year they provide a little star power.For the GOP, former Pittsb......

For about the first 45 minutes of a breakfast forum today, members of Lancaster County's Republican legislative delegation discussed such perennial issues as tax and legislative reform, agriculture, health care and transportation. Taking five-minute turns at the podium, the Republican lawma......

The five candidates for Lancaster County commissioner kept the discourse fairly civil Thursday during the first round of debates leading to November's election.No overly controversial statements or personal attacks were launched during the two-and-a-half-hour event at Bethel AME Church......

(Silence … more silence … why don't you get that second cup of coffee awhile? … still more silence.)Sorry I'm late for the start of this week's column, but I have to keep checking my mailbox here at the office. You see, President Bush is going to be speaking i......

The White House confirmed late Thursday some details of President Bush's scheduled visit to Lancaster County next week.Bush will speak to invited members of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry at 11:35 a.m. Wednesday at one of the buildings owned in the county by Jay Group......

President Bush will come to Lancaster County next week to talk about ongoing budget issues he has with the Democratic Congress, sources told the Intelligencer Journal Tuesday.Bush will speak to the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry during an invitation-only speech. A venue has y......

Can a roasted pig mend the splinters in the Lancaster County Republican Party? The answer will be revealed on Sept. 22, when the same Manheim home that nine months ago birthed the unendorsed candidacy of Heidi Wheaton will host a fundraiser for the nominated Republican team of Scott Martin and......

Leaders from two statewide groups of Latino Republicans are criticizing the Lancaster County Republican Committee for inviting Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta to speak today at a donor luncheon.Robert S. Nix, chairman of the Pennsylvania Hispanic Republicans, and Luis Mendoza, chairman of the ......

East Hempfield Township supervisor candidate Doug Brubaker said he's undeterred by his local Republican committee's support for his opponent.The East Hempfield GOP is backing current Supervisor Ed LeFevre's write-in campaign, even though Brubaker finished ahead of LeFevre in the spring pri......

It's September, and you know what that means.Yes, it's fair season, so toss away that diet and make room for cotton candy and funnel cakes, because if you're not chowing down on calorie-filled fair food, you're not a true Lancaster county resident.I guess I'm a hayseed at heart beca......

The heated issue of immigration reform will be the topic of two forums in Lancaster County next month, with one sponsored by Lancaster County Republican Committee and the other by the Lancaster chapter of League of Women Voters.Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta will be the featured speaker for......

The Republican Committee of Lancaster County rallied its support behind Rick Santorum's re-election bid last year.This year, Santorum is returning the favor to the GOP candidates for county commissioner.The former Pennsylvania senator plans to attend a fundraising event for comm......

Former Lancaster County Republican Committee chairman Bob Bensing of Ephrata died Wednesday at age 76 after a "lengthy illness," according to current chairman Dave Dumeyer."I think a lot of people found his leadership very inspirational," Dumeyer said. "And he was ......

A West Lampeter Republican wants Lancaster County Coroner Dr. G. Gary Kirchner knocked off the November ballot and is challenging Kirchner's nominating petition in county court.Immo Sulyok, a local Republican committeeman who says he is taking action independently of the party, filed the c......

Make room for one more candidate in this year's race for Lancaster County commissioner.Attorney Jim Clymer, the 59-year-old national chairman of the conservative Constitution Party, confirmed Monday he plans to add his name to the November ballot. He said he plans to turn in his nominating......

Endorsed candidates from both parties saw success Tuesday in seeking nominations for six available judge seats in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas.All candidates from both parties cross-filed, which enabled voters to choose from a field of 15 — 12 Republicans and three Demo......

By the end of today, an estimated 60,000 voters will determine for a county of nearly half a million people who gets a chance at leading local governments and school boards, deciding how high or low taxes go.Today is Pennsylvania's primary election. Across Lancaster County, 233 polls o......

Republican Scott Martin sees a problem in Lancaster County government."The majority of the county budget is mandated to human services, yet you never see someone with a human services or criminal justice background running for county commissioner," the former director of the coun......

Republican Dennis Stuckey said to comply with the state's Sunshine Act, which mandates most public meetings be open, elected officials must be willing to face not only their supporters but their detractors, too.To hide from those who disagree leads to violations of the Sunshine Act, he sai......

Republican Heidi Wheaton has described herself as courageous and willing to speak her mind when problems arise.According to Wheaton, an East Hempfield Township supervisor, she draws inspiration for her outspokenness from President Reagan's 1987 "Tear Down this Wall" speech in......

The four-way Republican campaign for Lancaster County commissioner has drawn divisions among locally elected officials about who deserves the two nominations Tuesday.While a majority of state legislators and municipal officials have endorsed county controller Dennis Stuckey and Scott Marti......

County commissioner candidate Heidi Wheaton released a TV spot Monday accusing one of her opponents of breaking the law and taking fellow Republicans to task for endorsing him in the primary election."In his quest for commissioner, Scott Martin was forced to quit his government job fo......

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter told a packed room of Lancaster County Republicans Monday night that he's a man with a plan.If elected president in 2008, the California congressman vowed to:Level the foreign-trade playing field, which he said currently favors China over the U.S....

Republicans Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin, standing on a house porch looking out on bright green farmland in western Lancaster County Sunday, addressed what has become a perennial issue for county government: How should the county commissioners pay to preserve farmland?"It would beh......

The names are no misprint.When voters read their ballots during the May 15 primary election, they may see something no one in Lancaster County's lengthy history has before: four women appearing in the county judge contest."There are women who are concerned that there are st......

It was only 6 minutes into Monday night's Lancaster County commissioner debate when a Republican slammed Heidi Wheaton for equating local GOP leaders to the former Soviet Politburo last week."I take great personal offense to that," GOP candidate Dennis Stuckey said. "Rep......

A debate among Republican candidates for Lancaster County commissioner turned testy Wednesday afternoon when one candidate attacked the party's endorsement process.East Hempfield Township Supervisor Heidi Wheaton — who skipped the vetting process and did not receive an endorsemen......

Republican Heidi Wheaton on Sunday launched the first television commercial in the race for Lancaster County commissioner, six weeks before the primary election.The 30-second spot, available Sunday at her campaign Web site (www.heidiwhe....

Lancaster County commissioner candidate Scott Martin resigned his $68,000-a-year position this week with the county Youth Intervention Center to concentrate on his campaign.He handed a letter of resignation to the board of commissioners Wednesday.Martin's action was prompted by ......

A veteran prosecutor who helped put hundreds of sex offenders behind bars is leaving the district attorney's office for private practice.Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey A. Conrad plans to leave April 2 for a position with Clymer & Musser PC, 408 W. Chestnut St.Conrad bec......

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. G. Gary Kirchner dropped out of the Republican primary Tuesday, but he vowed to win a second four-year term in the November election as an independent candidate.Kirchner said running as an independent gave him a "much better chance of having an organized, ......

Could Republicans hold all three seats on the Lancaster County board of commissioners?It hasn't happened since 1992, when Democratic incumbent Brad Fischer changed his party affiliation.But next year, an all-Republican board could govern the county if Jere Swarr is successful in......

Lancaster County Republicans took just one round of balloting Tuesday night to endorse Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey as the party's preferred candidates for county commissioner.But before the pair delivered their acceptance speeches, Rapho Township Supervisor Jere Swarr told reporter......

It took just one ballot Tuesday for the Lancaster County Republican Committee to endorse candidates to fill four of the six Lancaster County judge seats on the ballot this year.The two other judge endorsements were decided two hours and three ballots later.The county Republican Comm......