WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the Roxborough neighborhood. The station's signal covers the Delaware Valley area, comprising large portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

History[link]

As WFIL-TV[link]

Philadelphia's second-oldest television station signed on the air on September 10, 1947 as WFIL-TV. It was owned originally by Triangle Publications, publishers of The Philadelphia Inquirer, along with WFIL radio (560 AM) and WFIL-FM (102.1 FM, now WIOQ).

WFIL radio had been an ABC radio affiliate dating back to ABC's days as the Blue Network. However, WFIL-TV started out as a DuMont affiliate, as ABC hadn't gotten into television yet. When ABC launched its television network on April 19, 1948, WFIL-TV became the fledgling network's first affiliate. Channel 6 joined ABC before the network's first owned-and-operated station, WJZ-TV in New York City (now WABC-TV), signed on in August. However, it retained a secondary affiliation with DuMont until DuMont shut down in 1956.

The WFIL stations were the flagship of the growing communications empire of Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications, which owned two Philadelphia newspapers (the morning Inquirer and, later, the evening Philadelphia Daily News), periodicals including TV Guide, Seventeen, and the Daily Racing Form, and a broadcasting group that would grow to ten radio and six television stations.

The WFIL radio stations originally broadcast from the Widener Building in downtown Philadelphia. With the anticipated arrival of WFIL-TV, Triangle secured a new facility for WFIL, located at Market and 46th streets. In 1963 (according to the WPVI web site) Triangle built one of the most advanced broadcast centers in the nation on City (or City Line) Avenue in the Wynnefield Heights community, in a circular building across from rival WCAU-TV. The station still broadcasts from there today even as a new digital media building is finally in use for Action News and other original productions, while the original studio was turned over to public broadcaster WHYY-FM-TV.

Channel 6 has a long history of producing local shows. On Good Friday 1948 it broadcast a production of "Parsifal" from the John Wanamaker Store that featured Bruno Walter 50 players from the Philadelphia Orchestra, a Chorus of 300 and the Wanamaker Organ. Perhaps its most notable local production was Bandstand, which began in 1952 and originated from WFIL-TV's newly-constructed Studio B (located in the 1952 addition to the original 1947 46th and Market Street studio). In 1957, ABC included the program as part of its weekday-afternoon network lineup and renamed it to reflect its more widespread broadcast – American Bandstand.

Other well-known locally-produced shows included the children's programs Captain Noah and His Magical Ark; a cartoon show hosted by Sally Starr; and Chief Halftown (whose host, Traynor Ora Halftown, was a full-blooded member of the Seneca Nation), and two variety programs: The Al Alberts Showcase, a talent show emceed by the lead singer of the Four Aces; and the Larry Ferrari Show, on which the host played organ versions of both popular and religious music. WFIL-TV also produced an early, yet long-running, program on adult literacy, Operation Alphabet.

Channel 6 was the first station to sign on from the Roxborough neighborhood. It originally used a 600-foot (180 m) tower, but in 1957 it moved to a new 1,100-foot (340 m) tower which it co-owned with NBC-owned WRCV-TV (channel 3, now KYW-TV). The new tower added much of Delaware and the Lehigh Valley to the station's city-grade coverage.

As WPVI-TV[link]

In 1968, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) barred companies from owning newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market -- the so-called "one to a market" rule. However, the FCC "grandfathered" several existing newspaper and broadcasting situations in several markets. Triangle approached the FCC for permission to grandfather its combination of the Inquirer, the Daily News and WFIL-AM-FM-TV, but was turned down. As a result, in 1969, one year after the new regulation was made official, Triangle sold the Inquirer and the Daily News to Knight (later Knight-Ridder) Newspapers.

In 1971, the FCC forced Triangle to sell off its broadcasting properties due to protests from then-Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp. Shapp complained that Triangle had used its three Pennsylvania television stations -— WFIL-TV, WLYH-TV in Lebanon and WFBG-TV (now WTAJ-TV) in Altoona -- in a smear campaign against him.^[1] The WFIL stations, along with radio and TV outlets in New Haven, Connecticut and Fresno, California, were sold to Capital Cities Communications. As a condition of the sale, Capital Cities had to spin off the radio stations to other entities (WFIL radio to LIN Broadcasting and WFIL-FM to Richer Communications, which changed the call letters to WIOQ), and channel 6 changed its call letters to the current WPVI-TV on April 27, 1971.

Despite the ownership change, channel 6 continued preempting ABC programming in favor of locally-produced and syndicated shows. In 1975, when ABC entered the morning news field with AM America, WPVI did not carry it. Nor would channel 6 pick up AM America's successor, Good Morning America, in its entirety for nearly three years, choosing instead to carry Captain Noah and His Magical Ark in place of the second hour of GMA. WPVI-TV also did not run other ABC daytime programming, notably The Edge of Night and numerous sitcom reruns. ABC was able to get most of its daytime schedule on the air in Philadelphia anyway, through contracts with independent stations WKBS-TV (channel 48) and WTAF-TV (channel 29).

In March 1985, Capital Cities announced it was purchasing the American Broadcasting Company, a move that stunned the broadcast industry since ABC was some four times larger than CapCities at the time. Some have said that CapCities was only able to pull off the deal because WPVI-TV, the company's flagship property, had become very profitable in its own right. However, the merged company almost had to sell off channel 6 due to a large grade B signal overlap with WABC-TV. In the FCC's view, the merger gave the new company a duopoly prohibited by the regulations of the time—the same "one-to-a-market" rule that forced Triangle to split its newspaper/broadcast combination in Philadelphia many years earlier. Capital Cities sought a waiver of the rules to keep WPVI, citing CBS' then-ownership of WCBS-TV in New York and WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. The FCC granted the waiver, and when the transaction became final in early 1986, WPVI-TV became an ABC owned-and-operated station. The station was hitherto ABC's longest-tenured affiliate; this distinction went to Baltimore's WJZ-TV and then to Washington, DC's WJLA when WJZ dropped ABC in 1995. A decade later, the Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC.

Even in the years after WPVI became an ABC-owned station, it continued to pre-empt an hour of ABC daytime programs in favor of other programs. Wildwood, New Jersey-based NBC affiliate WMGM-TV picked up the pre-empted ABC shows until 1987, when it moved back to channel 29, which was now WTXF-TV. The pre-empted programs were usually magazine shows, game shows or reruns of ABC primetime sitcoms. Some leeway was made in the early 1990s, when WPVI was down to pre-empting only the first half-hour the Home Show.

It was also after the CapCities-ABC merger that WPVI encountered infamy: On January 22, 1987, the station partially rebroadcast the suicide of Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer on its noon newscast. Dwyer's suicide occurred at a press conference earlier that morning.

In 1997, in a directive from the new Disney ownership, WPVI-TV began carrying the entire ABC network schedule for the first time ever. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of its highly-rated local show, AM/Live (formerly AM Philadelphia), which was shifted to overnights to make room for ABC's then-new talk show The View. AM/Live was moved to 12:35 a.m. following Politically Incorrect and was renamed Philly After Midnight, where it lasted until 2001.

Today, WPVI carries the entire ABC line-up as well as syndicated programming such as Live! with Kelly and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, both of which are provided by corporate cousin Disney-ABC Domestic Television. It also carries both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. In fact, its entire weekday line-up, including syndicated shows, is identical to that of WABC-TV. Since 1977, WPVI has also been airing the Pennsylvania Lottery live nighttime television drawings which occurs at 6:59 p.m. ET every night. The Powerball drawings on Wednesdays and Saturdays and the Mega Millions drawings Tuesday and Fridays air during the 11 PM editions of Action News on those days.

On January 28, 2010, WPVI entered into a multi-year agreement with Major League Soccer expansion team Philadelphia Union through which it will air every non-nationally televised game in HD, and show game rebroadcasts over their Live Well subchannel.

On December 4, 2010, WPVI updated its logo by placing a circle around the "6" logo (in a manner similar to other ABC O&Os) and replacing its red ABC logo with the "gloss ball" version launched three years previously by the network, becoming the last ABC O&O to add the new version to their logo. The revised identity came with a new graphics package. ^[2][3]

Digital programming[link]

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

WPVI-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF channel 64, but returned to channel 6 for its post-transition operations. Because of the nature of VHF-LO frequencies, WPVI-TV is difficult to tune without an outdoor VHF/UHF antenna. A temporary power increase to 30 kilowatts was granted, with WEDY in New Haven, Connecticut and WRGB in Schenectady, New York having to give their consent. Some viewers did notice an improvement in their signal.^[4] Because of potential interference to other stations and to FM radio, there was doubt as to whether this increase could be granted.^[5] Three months later, WPVI was still getting complaints.^[6]

News operation[link]

The station is famous for pioneering the Action News format, which was used by many stations throughout the United States. When WFIL-TV premiered it on April 6, 1970, the format allowed the news program to have more stories than KYW-TV's Eyewitness News due to strict time limits on story packages. Within a few months, the station surged to first place for the first time in its history. It had previously been an also-ran behind KYW-TV and WCAU-TV, as was the case with most ABC affiliates. Despite channel 6's newspaper roots, it was hampered by the fact that ABC was not on par with CBS and NBC until the early 1970s.

In 1970, Channel 6 stole first place in the ratings in Philadelphia. It has dominated the ratings for most of the time ever since, winning virtually every time slot. Its dominance has only been seriously challenged twice—in the 1980s, when WCAU-TV briefly took the lead at 5 p.m.; and in 2001, when WCAU took first place at 11 p.m. for a few months for the first time in decades. Many top executives in ABC's television station group worked at WPVI. WPVI's longtime anchor Jim Gardner and weatherman Dave Roberts joined the station in 1976 and 1978 respectively, after each had spent time at WPVI's sister station WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York. Sports anchor Gary Papa joined in 1981 from another Buffalo station, WGR-TV.

The station's newscast has used the same theme music, "Move Closer to Your World" by Al Ham, since 1972. The composition has become as much a part of the Philadelphia consciousness as the Rocky theme and has helped WPVI stay number one in the Delaware Valley for 30 years. The station tried to switch to a fuller, thunderous and authoritative version of the song by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in September 1996, but switched back to the old version after four days of viewer complaints.^[7] Also, for nearly 30 years starting in the early 1980s, Jeff Kaye (of NFL Films) announced the familiar open: "Action News, Delaware Valley's leading news program," as well as rejoins and closings. Even through staff announcing changes for the station in general, Kaye remained the constant voice of Action News. However, as of the mid-2000s, his voice started to show signs of decaying; it got to the point where his newly-recorded opens in late January 2010 were pulled off in less than a week. On June 21, 2010, Kaye was replaced with veteran announcer Charlie Van Dyke, who has been WPVI's station announcer since 2006.

Years of being in the lead have led WPVI to maintain an "if it isn’t broken, don't fix it" mentality. For instance, it has had the same "6" logo since becoming WPVI, although the logo has been treated differently over the years. For instance, in the early 1990s, WPVI began placing its stylized 6 on top of a blue box, which lasted until 1997 when the station rebranded itself to "6ABC" and began placing a red ABC logo inside the 6. In December 2010, WPVI debuted a revised identity, including an updated logo. The 6 is now placed inside a blue circle, with a black, glossy ABC logo. Grayscale versions of the previous logo remain in use. WPVI has frequently remastered "Move Closer to Your World" to make it sound less dated.

In recent years, attempts have been made to modernize the newscasts. In 1998, it began downplaying its use of chromakey graphics. The magnet board used for weather forecasts gave way to a video screen in 2000 and a chromakey wall in 2005. On February 13, 2006, Action News debuted a revamped and fully modernized set which includes a glass etching background of several historical landmarks in Philadelphia positioned behind the anchor desk, shiftable lighting effects and a computerized Accu-Weather center. WPVI introduced a new HD-capable helicopter in February 2006. Live shots from the helicopter, officially named Chopper6 HD, were shown in high definition. Furthermore, on July 23, 2006, starting with the 6:00 p.m. broadcast, Action News began broadcasting from its studio in full 720p HDTV. The official announcement was made on July 24. All news cameras on Action News are HD. On September 12, 2009, WPVI debuted another new revamped and fully modernized set, wider than the last set at the original round building, with a bigger newsdesk, AccuWeather center and background of glass sketches of the several historic landmarks in Philadelphia (now adding one of the Comcast Center). It also added a touch-screen video wall, the first for any station in the country.

Most of WPVI's on-air staff has been at the station for over ten years, and several for twenty years or more. Jim Gardner has been with the station since 1976 and has been its main anchor since May 1977, the longest tenure as a main anchor in Philadelphia history. Rob Jennings has been the station's weekend anchor since 1981.

As there is no ABC affiliate or local station based in New Jersey, WPVI cooperates with WABC-TV in the production and broadcast of state-wide New Jersey political debates. When the two stations broadcast a state-wide office debate, such as Governor or U.S. Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in the gathering of news in New Jersey where their markets overlap, sharing reporters, live trucks, and helicopters.

After the death of long-time sports director Gary Papa, Channel 6 took eighteen months to name a replacement. In January 2011, Keith Russell was named as the 6pm and 11pm sports anchor, while Jamie Apody was named the 5pm sports anchor, a position vacant since the departure of longtime 5pm anchor Scott Palmer. Russell and Apody split responsibility for the weekday evening sports report during the interim.

In the ABC series Body of Proof (which is set around the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office and produced by ABC's television studio division), WPVI live trucks and microphones with the station's mic flag are seen in a fictional sense, along with fictional press conference news graphics from the station, though none of the station's staff have appeared in the course of the series.

Action News at 4pm[link]

On May 26, 2011, Action News added a 4pm newscast to its schedule; the launch occurred the day after the airing of Oprah Winfrey's final episode. The newsteam for this broadcast includes news anchors Brian Taff and Shirleen Allicot, feature anchor Alicia Vitarelli, meteorologist Adam Joseph, and reporter Sarah Bloomquist. Bloomquist will be utilizing the newest vehicle of WPVI, Mobile 6, for her reporting. Unlike the other newscasts, the 4pm newscast broadcasts from a smaller anchor desk that is right next to the main anchor desk and only houses the main anchors. This allows the 4pm team to utilize the big board more frequently. This brings the total amount of "Action News" broadcasts to 40 hours and 5 minutes a week.

On-air anchors[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff (as of May 25, 2012)^[8]

Anchors

• Shirleen Allicot - weekdays co-anchor at 4 p.m.
• Sarah Bloomquist - weekdays at noon; also Mobile 6 reporter for 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
• Tamala Edwards - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Jim Gardner - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Nydia Han - Sunday mornings and noon; also consumer reporter
• Rob Jennings - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Monica Malpass - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also host of The Inside Story
• Matt O'Donnell - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Erin O'Hearn Sunday mornings and noon; also consumer reporter (filling in for Nydia Han)
• Walter Perez - weekend mornings and Sundays at noon; also Lehigh Valley correspondent
• Brian Taff - weekdays co-anchor at 4 p.m.
• Alicia Vitarelli - weekdays co-anchor at 4 p.m.
• Rick Williams - weekdays at noon and weeknights at 5 p.m.

AccuWeather team

• Adam Joseph (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekdays at 4 p.m. & 5:30pm
• Melissa Magee (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m
• David Murphy (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Karen Rogers (AMS Seal of Approval) - fill-in meteorologist; weekday morning traffic (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Chris Sowers (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings and Sundays at noon
• Cecily Tynan (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m.

Sports team

• Jamie Apody - sports anchor; weeknights at 5 p.m.
• Keith Russell - sports anchor; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Jeff Skversky - sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter

Traffic

• Matt Pellman - Traffic.com reporter; weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5 p.m.
• Karen Rogers - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.)

Reporters

• Amy Buckman - "Saving with 6ABC" reporter/producer
• Dann Cuellar - general assignment reporter
• Ali Gorman - "HealthCheck" reporter
• David Henry - general assignment reporter
• Jennifer Joyce - general assignment reporter
• Kenneth Moton - general assignment reporter
• Nora Muchanic - New Jersey bureau correspondent
• Vernon Odom - general assignment reporter
• Erin O'Hearn- features reporter and consumer reports reporter (filling in for Nydia Han)
• Chad Pradelli - general assignment reporter
• John Rawlins - general assignment reporter
• Katherine Scott - general assignment reporter
• Lisa Thomas-Laury - feature reporter and fill-in anchor; also host of New Visions

Notable former staff[link]

• Al Alberts
• Dick Clark
• Larry Ferrari
• Phil Vischer
• Irving Fryar
• Traynor (Chief) Halftown
• Frank Hall
• Bob Horn
• Marc Howard (retired)
• Larry Kane
• Wally Kennedy
• Tug McGraw
• W. Carter Merbreier ("Captain Noah")
• Patricia Merbreier ("Mrs. Noah") (died, June 23rd, 2011)
• SallyAnn Mosey
• Jim O'Brien (died in 1983)
• Gary Papa (died on June 18, 2009)
• Dave Roberts (retired)
• Sally Starr
• Don Tollefson
• Joe Torres
• Lucy Yang
• Cathy Gandolfo (retired in 2011)
• Phil Andrews
• Michelle McCormack
• Anita Brickman
• Scott Palmer (now working for Philadelphia Phillies)

Cable and satellite carriage[link]

Outside of the Philadelphia market in central New Jersey, WPVI is carried in southern Middlesex County on Comcast in the municipalities of Plainsboro, South Brunswick, Monroe, Cranbury, Jamesburg, Helmetta, Spotswood, and East Brunswick on Channel 6. Cablevision Monmouth County also carries WPVI on Channel 6 on Cablevision Monmouth and Monmouth/Wall outlets. All of Ocean County carries WPVI on Comcast and Cablevision outlets. Due to a contract dispute with ABC, WPVI was blacked out on March 8, 2010 to Cablevision customers in Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer counties. Verizon FiOS carries WPVI on Channel 16 in Ocean County and extreme Southern Monmouth county. WPVI is also carried by Comcast in all of New Castle County, Delaware, and some of Kent County. As such, WPVI is significantly viewed in Warren, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties.

In the Lehigh Valley, WPVI is carried by Service Electric, RCN, and Blue Ridge Communications, which altogether encompasses nearly 1 million people. It can also be seen in Reading and most parts of Berks County. In fact, WPVI-TV can be seen in Lancaster County as far west as Elizabethtown.

See also[link]

Philadelphia portal

• 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade

References[link]

External links[link]

• WPVI-TV website
• WPVI-TV mobile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPVI-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WPVI-TV
• Program Information for WPVI at TitanTV.com
• Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Tom Corbett
46th Governor of Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office January 18, 2011
Lieutenant	Jim Cawley
Preceded by	Ed Rendell
46th Attorney General of Pennsylvania
In office January 18, 2005[1] – January 18, 2011
Preceded by	Jerry Pappert
Succeeded by	William Ryan (Acting)
In office October 3, 1995 – January 22, 1997
Preceded by	Ernie Preate
Succeeded by	Mike Fisher
United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In office November 30, 1989 – May 1, 1993
Nominated by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Charles Sheehy (Acting)
Succeeded by	Frederick Thieman
Personal details
Born	(1949-06-17) June 17, 1949 (age 63) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Susan Manbeck
Residence	Governor's Residence
Alma mater	Lebanon Valley College St. Mary's University, Texas
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature
Website	Official website
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1971–1984
Rank	Captain
Unit	28th Infantry Division

Thomas W. "Tom" Corbett (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician who has been the 46th Governor of Pennsylvania since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Corbett was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 1997; he was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge to fill the unexpired term of Ernie Preate following Preate's indictment. Subsequently he was elected as Attorney General in 2004; he served as Attorney General from 2005 to 2011, winning re-election in 2008.^[2]

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Corbett received his Bachelor's degree at Lebanon Valley College and was employed as a 9th grade teacher for one year.^[3] Corbett then earned his J.D. from St. Mary's University Law School. He served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 28th Infantry Division from 1971 to 1984, rising to the rank of Captain.

Corbett's career has been split between private practice and civil service. He began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County. After three and a half years, he was hired in 1980 as assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In 1983, Corbett went into private practice for several years. During this period, Corbett won his first election as a township commissioner in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler Township.

In 1988, a judge appointed him to monitor the Allegheny County jail while it was under the court's supervision. In 1989, Senators John Heinz and Arlen Specter recommended to President Bush that he nominate Corbett for the post of United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.^[4][5] Corbett served in the post until May 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton.^[6]

Corbett then returned to private practice, also serving as an adviser to the gubernatorial campaign of Tom Ridge. Following Ridge's victory, Corbett served on a number of state commissions including the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which he served as chairman.

Corbett left office in 1997 and again went into the private sector, first as general counsel for Waste Management, Inc., then opening his own practice.

Attorney General[link]

1995 appointment[link]

In 1995, Corbett was appointed to the position of State Attorney General by Governor Ridge to fill the remainder of the term left by the conviction of Ernie Preate.^[7] As a condition of his Senate confirmation, Senate Democrats required him to pledge that he would not run for re-election in 1996. This is a common practice in Pennsylvania for appointments to elected offices. Jerry Pappert made the same pledge in 2003 when he succeeded Mike Fisher as State Attorney General.

2004 election[link]

The race began with Corbett, Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor, and Joe Peters fighting for the Republican party endorsement. With Corbett from western Pennsylvania, Castor from the southeast, and Peters from the northeast, it was initially expected that endorsement votes would follow geographic lines. However, four of the five southeastern county chairmen came out in support of Corbett with Castor taking only Montgomery County.

Furious that he had lost party endorsements, Castor lashed out at the county chairman with accusations of backroom deals with Bob Asher, the state's national GOP committeeman and a convicted felon connected to Budd Dwyer. During the campaign, Castor launched attack ads against Corbett for his prior employment at Waste Management Inc, and the financial support he received from Asher. Corbett's campaign responded with advertisements critical of Castor's acceptance of $625,000 in contributions from Drew Lewis after Lewis was convicted of DUI but permitted to serve his sentence at an upscale rehab facility in New England.

Corbett held on to large majorities in Western Pennsylvania including 82% in his base of Allegheny County,^[8] while Castor prevailed in the Southeast with almost a similar margin. Ultimately, Corbett won the race with 52.8% of the vote.^[9] Castor subsequently announced his support of Corbett in the general election against Democrat Jim Eisenhower.

The General election was not as contentious as it was close. After early returns were reported, the Associated Press called the race in Eisenhower's favor, only to retract that call later as the numbers closed. Corbett declared victory the following morning, having defeated Eisenhower by nearly 110,000 votes, winning 50.4% to 48.3%. Green party candidate Marakay Rogers captured 1.3% of the vote.^[10]

2008 election[link]

Corbett was re-elected in 2008. He won with the largest vote total of any Republican in the state's history.^[3] He defeated Democrat John Morganelli, bucking the trend of Democratic success in Pennsylvania that year.

Healthcare reform[link]

On March 23, 2010, Corbett, along with 13 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the mandates in the just-signed federal Healthcare Bill, claiming it is unconstitutional. As of January 2011, a total of 27 states have joined this lawsuit.^[11]

Governor of Pennsylvania[link]

2010 election[link]

On March 17, 2009, it was reported that Corbett had formed an exploratory committee and had begun filing the paperwork necessary to begin a run for Governor of Pennsylvania. On September 15, 2009, Corbett formally declared his candidacy^[12] and, on May 18, 2010, won the GOP primary with nearly 70% of the vote.^[13]

In May 2010 Corbett filed a criminal subpoena against twitter ordering them to divulge "any and all subscriber information" of the person(s) behind two accounts that were criticizing the Republican candidate.^[14] Corbett's office denied that the subpoenas were related to the criticism, but rather to an ongoing grand jury investigation. Corbett's office ultimately withdrew the subpoenas. One of the account owners declined to say whether he was indeed the subject of a grand jury investigation.^[15]

In July 2010, Corbett garnered attention for suggesting that some of the unemployed are exploiting the extension of unemployment benefits prior to seeking employment, and later noting the prevalence of "help wanted" ads in the newspapers as evidence of the availability of employment.^[16][17]

In September 2010, at the first gubernatorial debate, Corbett again gained attention for seemingly violating his "no-tax pledge" in suggesting that he would consider raising the payroll contribution tax.^[18]

On November 2, 2010, Corbett was elected governor of Pennsylvania, succeeding Democrat Ed Rendell. Corbett assumed the office of governor on January 18, 2011, at 12:29 PM.

Tenure[link]

Budget[link]

Corbett became governor on January 18, 2011. One of his first actions was the proposal of a new state budget that would decrease spending by 3%. The proposed budget received significant criticism due to its cuts in state-supported higher education by 50%. Under the new budget, funding granted to the 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and state-related universities Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, and Lincoln would be cut in half, totaling $625 million. Corbett has said, however, that he will not attempt to limit collective bargaining, as have Republican Governors John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.^[19]

Natural gas[link]

As governor, Corbett maintains that Pennsylvania should not tax the natural gas industry.^[20][21] In February 2011, Corbett repealed a four month old policy regulating natural gas drilling (including hydraulic fracturing) in park land, deeming it "unnecessary and redundant" according to a spokesperson. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party called the repeal a "payoff" to oil and gas interests which donated a million dollars to Corbett's campaign.^[22] According to Corbett, "had they not given me a dime, I would still be in this position, saying we need to grow jobs in Pennsylvania".^[23]

On February 14, 2012, Corbett signed The Marcellus Shale Law (House Bill 1950).^[24] The law changes the zoning laws applicable to Marcellus Shale well drilling, which is more commonly known as hydraulic fracturing. Some of its provisions are that all municipalities must allow Marcellus Shale well drilling in all zoning districts, including residential and municipalities may not limit hours of operation. Water and wastewater pits must also be allowed in all zoning districts, including residential. Compressor stations must be allowed in industrial and agricultural zoning districts and towns may not limit hours of operation. Gas processing plants are allowed in industrial zoning districts and hours of operation cannot be limited. Gas pipelines must be allowed in all zoning districts, including residential.^[24] The law helps gain access to land for new pipelines,^[25] one of which will transport natural gas from Pennsylvania to export terminals in Maryland,^{[26][27] [28][29]} from which it will be shipped to Europe and Asia.^[30][31] Others contend that the pipeline's purpose is to transport the gas to Maryland and D.C. markets.^[32][26] There are also concerns that exporting natural gas will result in more jobs going overseas, leading to increased unemployment in Pennsylvania and other states as gas prices rise globally.^[33]

The Marcellus Shale Law (House Bill 1950) also contains a provision that allows doctors in Pennsylvania access to the list of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluid in emergency situations only, but forbids them from discussing this information with their patients.^[34] The information can only be used for emergency medical treatment, and the doctor must immediately verbally agree to keep the information confidential and later sign a document to that effect.^[35] The bill also reduces the legal responsibility of vendors, service providers, and operators regarding the identity and impact of contents of the hydraulic fracturing fluid they use.^[35]

Personal life[link]

Corbett is married; he and his wife Susan have two children, Tom and Katherine. Tom is an interactive gaming producer and Katherine is a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.^[36]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	Pennsylvania portal
	Politics portal

• Governor Tom Corbett official government site
• Tom Corbett for Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Works by or about Tom Corbett in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile at Notable Names Database
• Tom Corbett: Pennsylvania at NAAG.org

v t e Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania Presidents (1777–1790) Wharton Bryan Reed Moore Dickinson Franklin Mifflin Governors (since 1790) Mifflin McKean Snyder Findlay Hiester Shulze Wolf Ritner Porter Shunk Johnston Bigler Pollock Packer Curtin Geary Hartranft Hoyt Pattison Beaver Pattison Hastings Stone Pennypacker Stuart Tener Brumbaugh Sproul Pinchot Fisher Pinchot Earle James Martin Bell Duff Fine Leader Lawrence Scranton Shafer Shapp Thornburgh Casey Ridge Schweiker Rendell Corbett

v t e Current statewide political officials of Pennsylvania U.S. Senators Bob Casey, Jr. Pat Toomey State government Tom Corbett, Governor Jim Cawley, Lieutenant Governor Linda Kelly, Attorney General Robert McCord, Treasurer Jack Wagner, Auditor General Senate Joe Scarnati, President pro tempore Dominic Pileggi, Majority Leader Jay Costa, Minority Leader House Sam Smith, Speaker Mike Turzai, Majority Leader Frank Dermody, Minority Leader Supreme Court (elected) Ronald Castille Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor J. Michael Eakin Max Baer Debra Todd Seamus McCaffery Joan Orie Melvin Recused pending criminal charges AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY