March 13, 2014 Dear Philip, Since there is no longer a path to victory in the Democratic primary, I am withdrawing my candidacy for Governor of Pennsylvania. This decision disappoints my great campaign team and me, as well as thousands of our supporters. But we have tried every possible means to find a way to win and so avoid the necessity of making this decision. With no path to victory, to press on could cause damage to the issues and people for which we campaigned. At its outset, in November 2012, this campaign had three goals. First, propose bold, transformational policies to strengthen education, create jobs, protect our environment, and bring forth a new birth of freedom for all Pennsylvanians. Our second and third goals were to win the Democratic primary and end the long nightmare of the Corbett Administration in November. As to the goal of defeating Governor Corbett, all the Democratic candidates today are in a great position to hand Governor Corbett his eviction papers from the Governors office. Governor Corbett is headed toward an historic defeat both because of his own weakness, his incompetence and extremism, and the strength of the Democratic gubernatorial field. Governor Corbett is on the way to a landslide defeat to the Democratic nominee that may rival that of Senator Santorum in 2006. We achieved our first, and most important, goal of proposing numerous detailed policy solutions that will rebuild Pennsylvania. We have driven the debate on issue after issue - charter school accountability, reforming our cruel marijuana policies that harm patients and ruin the lives of good people, as well as energy and environmental policy. The bold solutions that we proposed are now part of the vernacular of the Democratic campaign, and they will be part of the policy package that will persuade Pennsylvanians to elect a Democrat as governor in November. On the second goal of winning the Democratic primary, Tom Wolfs television campaign has been startlingly effective, and he has taken a commanding lead, having reached support of 40% or more. His strong rise in the polls impacted the campaigns of all his competitors and stopped momentum that we had in January, though we alone among the competing campaigns did not lose ground in some polls. Tom Wolfs surge that stalled our January momentum meant that our recent polling has not been strong enough to raise the funds needed to pay for television and radio advertising that we will need at the end of this campaign. Furthermore, and crucially for our campaign, it is now probable that Tom Wolf, or whomever wins the Democratic primary, will get considerably more than 30% of the primary vote, a target we cannot reach. I know this decision disappoints you, our dedicated supporters, my great campaign team and me. And we have tried every possible means to find a way to win and so avoid the necessity of making this decision. With no path to victory, to press on could cause damage to the issues and people for which we campaign. At this moment of disappointment, I thank profusely our many supporters. Ours has been a Peoples Campaign powered by the energy, commitment and creativity of what became an army of volunteers who have a shared vision of changing Pennsylvania for the better. Nothing gives me greater confidence that those changes are indeed coming this way than the tide of good will and determination of the thousands of people I have met on the campaign trail and the many hundreds of friends I have made along this route whom I will remain close to and work with in the years ahead. My primary opponents have been and are excellent candidates and have conducted their campaigns well and honorably, never losing focus on the ultimate goal. It was a privileged to compete with them, and I count them all as friends. And because of them, our third objective, Mr. Corbetts defeat, remains clearly in sight, and I have never been more optimistic that we will be toasting that victory the evening of November 4. I owe a special debt of gratitude to a tremendous campaign team that includes Ed Boito, Jan Jarrett, Roger Cohen, Kathleen Daugherty, Gary Broderick, Doug Neidich, David Rolka, Kelly McEntee, Zach Karenchak, Jake Derrick, Anthony Ottaviano, Cole Goodman, Lee Tolbert and Carl Feldman. I want, in conclusion, to direct remarks to our friends and supporters who have made this not just a campaign for John Hanger for Governor, but a real Peoples Campaign, and in a very real sense, a movement. Our message of Schools, Not Jails, Jobs Not Jails, Legalize, Tax and regulate Marijuana, and A New Birth of Freedom in Pennsylvania are more than slogans. They mean something to our supporters in The Peoples Campaign; they mean something to Pennsylvanians. We wont stop talking about these issues, we wont stop working for them. The movement will carry on; so will the fight. I will be there for it. With appreciation, Hanger signature P.S. Watch for details about a celebration in Harrisburg on Saturday, March 22 from 4-7 p.m.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 13:55:47 +0000
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