Singel hopes experience will help him

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Singel has been in politics for most of his adult life. But he is hoping six months in 1993 will secure him a place in Harrisburg for the next four years. Singel, currently Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, spent half of 1993 as acting head of the Keystone State while Governor Robert Casey recovered from heart and liver transplant surgery. During that time, Singel established a record of bold leadership. He killed a legislative pay raise and proposed a corporate tax cut, which was later included in Casey's 1994-95 budget. He also signed a death warrant and 53 other bills including workers compensation reform and a bill stiffening the penalties for carjacking and stalking. But Singel, who easily won in the Democratic party primary in May, has had trouble getting his message across during the general election campaign. A number of Republican state senators have been quoted dismissing the 41-year old Singel as "an immature frat boy." While the Penn State graduate admits he likes to have fun -- he plays electric guitar, has a taste for beer and poker and has been known to throw snow balls at the state troopers assigned to protect him -- Singel vigorously denies the frat boy image. "It's highly insulting for anyone to suggest the lieutenant governor of this commonwealth is a lightweight," he said last month. "It just isn't true. No one has demonstrated grace under pressure like I have. An objective look at the record shows Mark Singel is ready to do the job." Just when Singel seemed to have overcome that overly happy-go-lucky label, the Ridge campaign launched an attack based on Singel's voting record on the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons and designed to paint Singel as "too liberal on crime." Singel was slow to respond to the ads and eventually acknowledged voting 60 times in the last four years to commute the sentences of convicts who had already served many years of their life sentences. Then came the news that Reginald McFadden, one of the criminals whose sentences Casey had commuted upon recommendation of the Pardons Board, had been arrested in New York on rape and kidnapping charges. McFadden is also suspected in a separate murder case. At a hastily called press conference the night of McFadden's arrest, Singel said he regretted McFadden's release. His campaign went on the defensive, arguing that McFadden had been an exemplary prisoner and Singel was not the only member of the Pardon's Board to recommend the convict's release. Singel countered by going after Ridge's record as an assistant district attorney in Erie, Pa., claiming he had plea bargained over 80 percent of his cases. Recently, Singel tried to shift the political discourse away from crime, initiating a bus tour to emphasize his efforts to help working families. But the damage to Singel's campaign has already been done. Ridge, originally behind in the polls, pulled even with Singel over the last month and the race is now considered a dead heat. Singel warns his opponents -- which include two lesser party candidates in addition to Ridge -- not to underestimate him. He has spent his entire political career preparing for the governorship. After holding two chief of staff jobs with U.S. Representatives Helen Meyer (D-N.J.) and Peter Peyser (D-N.Y.), Singel defeated long-time incumbent Louis Coppersmith in 1980 to become state senator from his hometown district in Johnstown, Pa. During his second state senate term, Casey endorsed Singel as his running mate in 1986 and Singel won two fierce primary battles to stay on Casey's ticket in both 1986 and 1990. Despite endorsing Singel as his running mate, Casey's support for Singel's greater political ambitions have often been tepid. By most accounts, Singel performed admirably while serving as acting governor for Casey, but Casey has not been very visible as a champion for Singel in this year's campaign. And Casey passed over Singel when selecting a replacement to fill the seat of U.S. Senator John Heinz, who was killed in a plane crash in 1991, and chose Harris Wofford instead. A year later, Singel lost out on a chance to compete for Pennsylvania's other senate seat, losing to Lynn Yeakel in the Democratic primary. Singel has said this defeat taught him the importance of having enough money and as a result, he has worked hard this year to keep up with Ridge financially. In 1993, Singel delayed a special election to fill a vacancy in a Republican district so Democrats could keep control over the Commonwealth's budget process. This year, he challenged the leadership of his own party by refusing to set another special election in the Senate's second district, where ballot fraud by Democrat Mark Stinson prompted a federal court to give the election to Republican Bruce Marks.