Sean Logan

With state Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Philadelphia) scheduled to go on trial in less than a month, the Daily News' political gossip page ponders who might take his place as ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Fumo, the 30-year incumbent who dropped his re-election bid in the spring because of the federal indictment he has to fight this fall, is renowned for the billions of dollars he has brought back to Philadelphia from his perch atop Appropriations.

The contenders to take over the Senate cash register? The Daily News says Fumo is backing state Sen. Sean Logan (D-Allegheny) over some local colleagues.  It was Logan who helped raise significant sums of money for Fumo's preferred replacement, and the eventual primary victor, Larry Farnese.

One of the potential replacements the Daily News says Fumo is spurning in favor of Logan, state Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia), supported John Dougherty, Fumo's bitter political foe, in the primary race against Farnese.