Jeff Piccola

Democrat candidate Judy Hirsh faces longtime state Sen. Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin County) this fall.: Politicker Photo

Longtime state Sen. Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin County) coasted to re-election in 2004 by 22 percentage points and by 35 percentage points in 2000.

Piccola's opponent this year thinks 2008 will be different -- she said she just needs to get the 15th Senatorial District to examine his record.

"Jeff Piccola has never had a serious challenger," said Democrat Judy Hirsh, who talked to PolitickerPA.com as she sat in the office of her real estate consulting business about a 10-minute drive from Harrisburg. "His record has never been put before his district."

Hirsh, a former Susquehanna Township commissioner candidate, said she will try to paint his record as entrenched in the status quo and out of touch with the district as she tries to overcome her underdog status in a district that has shifted leftward in recent years.

But Piccola countered he has been one of the legislature's leading reformer's whose independence has consistently appealed to independents and Democrats. He tackled the status quo long before it became in vogue, he said.

State Rep. Scott Boyd (R-Lancaster County) is backed by several Republican lawmakers as he calls for a Constitutional Convention: Politicker PhotoHARRISBURG -- Can Harrisburg's latest scandal motivate voters to demand a Constitutional Convention?

A group of legislators gathered in the Capitol said Wednesday that, in the wake of "Bonusgate," they're at least going to find out.

State Rep. Curt Schroder (R-Chester County), flanked by several midstate Republican lawmakers, announced he has introduced a bill that would ask voters in 2009 whether they want what many reformers consider the only way to overhaul the Capitol's political culture.

It's the latest call for a convention, which would grant elected citizens, not lawmakers, the power make significant changes to the structure and processes of state government.

The Senate State Government Committee has unanimously approved a bill that would ban lawmakers and other state workers from accepting lobbyist gifts, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"It would elevate the process to one that the people would have more confidence in," Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin County), chairman of the State Government Committee and the bill's sponsor, told the Inquirer.

The state currently mandates lobbyists report gifts they give to lawmakers and the amount of money they spend influencing policy.

It's unclear whether the full Senate will consider the measure before the end of the session in November.

Sen. Jeff Piccola has been trying to get a measure passed that would require state legislators to report all gifts over $10.  While the bill isn’t likely to see the light of day, the question is would it matter even if it passed.  According a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, more than a dozen legislators didn’t report gifts they received last year. 

A week ago it was reported the Clintons had developed an enemy list, not a list any democrat would want to find themselves on we are sure.  After the report we decided to plan a secret bug in some prominent Pennsylvania politicians offices and send a mole in there to ask who is on top of their enemy list.  Here is what we found.

Jeff Piccola was a winner in our first ever installment of Winners and Losers. Find out why he joins U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski as a loser for the week ending May 30, 2008.

Gov. Ed RendellBy a vote of 26-24 Gov. Ed Rendell’s judicial nominations James Gardner Colins for Supreme Court, Kenneth Gormley for Commonwealth Court and James Fitzgerald and Robert Daniels for Superior Court were rejected in the Senate. John Eichelberger, Stewart Greenleaf and Jeff Piccola were the lone Republicans to vote in favor of the nomination.