GOP gubernatorial candidate Jake Corman lays platform in Pittsburgh marketing campaign freeze

State Sen. Jake Corman, a Republican candidate for governor, made a campaign freeze in Pittsburgh Thursday. A former Pittsburgh factory that was renovated as a technology center served as the backdrop.

Corman, 57, of Center County, is in his sixth term in the state Senate, serving as pro tempore president.

He is one of nearly a dozen Republicans who have so far announced applications for the GOP nomination in the gubernatorial race.

On Thursday, Corman unveiled key elements of his platform at Mill 19 on the Hazelwood Green grounds, focusing on topics such as energy, education and personal freedom. He said his children – and what the future holds for them in Pennsylvania – inspired him to run for the highest office in the state.

Pennsylvania Senator Jake Corman, a Republican candidate for governor, stopped in Pittsburgh during his statewide Restore Freedom Listening Tour. pic.twitter.com/YKF8UllD63

– Julia Felton (@ JuliaFelton16) December 2, 2021

“They need to feel that they have the individual liberties to do well here in Pennsylvania,” Corman said. “In the past 12 to 18 months we have seen a top-down violation of our freedoms and a top-down approach to government.”

Corman, a critic of Governor Tom Wolf’s Covid-19 response, said he disagreed with the governor’s decisions to close deals marked “negligible” and suspend elective medical procedures in the early days of the pandemic.

“We are not a“ stay-and-home-and-let-the-government-refund-it-out-society. We are a can-do society, ”he said. “I’m going a different way. No matter what, I will protect your individual freedoms. “

If the virus surge continues, Corman said he will set health and safety requirements for businesses so they can stay open in a safe manner.

“We focused on how many people had Covid,” he said of Wolf’s approach. “We didn’t focus on what the downtime cost us.”

Corman said he is determined to create more job opportunities across the state – something he believes can be achieved by helping the energy sector.

“There is currently no other sector that is growing to the level of the energy sector,” he said. “We’re seeing this more in southwest Pennsylvania than anywhere else now.”

Corman and other Republican lawmakers have opposed Wolf’s efforts to include Pennsylvania in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, arguing that doing so would cost the state jobs and increase energy bills.

“That’s obviously a big part of the economy here,” Corman said of the energy business. “We can do better than that. With the cheap electricity we have, the natural resources and access to markets, we are a place people should be looking for. “

Don Smith, President of Regional Industrial Development Corp. (RIDC) in southwest Pennsylvania, described Corman as “a great partner for economic development initiatives in the Commonwealth”.

In terms of education, Corman addressed the importance of public schools. He promised to highlight commercial and vocational schools, especially those that could offer training for adults who do not seek additional training or professional training immediately after graduating from high school.

“Whether building craft training centers where you can learn and earn money at the same time, whether vocational schools with adult education programs, we have to do everything we can,” he said.

This could also include financial support for the construction of new vocational training centers, he said.

Julia Felton is the author of Tribune Review. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, jfelton@triblive.com, or on Twitter.