Itkin: Liberal Democrat fights on against odds

Next Tuesday, Itkin, a Democratic state representative from Pittsburgh, is virtually certain to lose his bid to become Pennsylvania's 44th governor to the man who has held the position for the last four years, Republican Tom Ridge. It has been 30 years since Itkin lost his last election -- a run for the state Senate -- and 41 years since the then-nuclear-engineer moved from New York City to Pittsburgh, a city he's represented in the state legislature since 1973. Itkin decided not to run for re-election to his state House seat this year. Now the 62-year-old stumps on, blasting Ridge for his economic and educational policies to whoever will listen. But with polls continuing to show him trailing Ridge by 39 points, the campaign has become a matter of dignity and honor for the thin, white-haired father of three. "At this point he's running because he made a commitment to run a year ago," said Terry Madonna, who directs the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Millersville University. "He knows he can't win." Never doubt that there is irony in politics. Itkin -- whose campaign has returned time and again to criticisms of Ridge for selling access to large contributors -- has failed to get his message across to voters precisely because he does not have enough large contributors. Itkin has shown signs recently that the difficult race is wearing him down. Asked a question about low-wage workers on an Erie talk-radio show last Friday, he started discussing Mexican "wetbacks" and Chinese "coolies." Itkin later apologized for using the slurs. "I think the remarks in Erie indicated that he is mentally at the end of his rope," said Michael Young, a politics professor at Pennsylvania State University. "It's been a long, hard, lonely campaign." Few of the issues Itkin currently stresses have been his bread and butter in years past. The one-time nuclear engineer, currently the state House of Representatives' minority whip, made his mark with a bill making discrimination against handicapped individuals illegal in Pennsylvania years before the Americans with Disabilities Act. Another signature Itkin bill was his effort -- the first in the nation -- to allow patients to opt for generic drugs rather than their expensive brand-name relatives, saving the sick uncountable sums. But the elderly, handicapped and sick are a traditional Democratic core, and Itkin has had difficulties reaching beyond his limited power base to speak to a broader constituency. And for a liberal Democrat like Itkin, that has often proved difficult. A Manhattanite by birth, Itkin is the child of a city auditor and a sales clerk. The precocious youngster graduated from Bronx Science, a top magnet high school, before earning a chemical engineering degree from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1956. Itkin came to Pittsburgh in 1957 with a masters degree in nuclear engineering from New York University to work for the Westinghouse Corp. He also holds a 1964 doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh. Molly Yard Garrett, past president of the National Organization for Women and then a state representative, gave Itkin his start in politics as a campaign worker. From there, Itkin progressed through the ranks: Democratic committeeman, state representative and majority leader of the Pennsylvania House in 1993-94. Itkin has been feeling the effects of the nationwide trend rightward along the political spectrum since 1994, when a newly elected Republican majority ended his term as House Majority Leader only two years after the Democratic Caucus had so elected him. Itkin has served as minority whip since 1994.