HARRISBURG -- The public corruption charges that Attorney General Tom Corbett has filed against 12 House Democratic caucus members and 10 Republican caucus members seem certain to become major elements in campaigns for governor and the state House next year.

The latest charges, lodged last week against former House Republican Speaker John Perzel and others, "give Corbett, who's already the Republican frontrunner, even more crime-fighting credibility," said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

"It doesn't completely seal the deal for him, because he'll still have to make his case on taxes, the recession and the economy, but [the corruption probe] is a huge plus for him politically," Mr. Madonna said.

Charlie Gerow, a Republican political strategist in Harrisburg, said, "No question, folks will try to use these charges for political advantage, but it could be a double-edged sword."

He said there will be political liability for Mr. Corbett "as people question his timing and his motives and whether he should bring such charges while running for governor."

Chuck Ardo, former spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell and now a consultant to the House Democratic Campaign Committee, said he thinks the charges against Mr. Perzel and other Republicans "absolutely" will figure in the campaign for control of the House in 2010.

"I'll recommend we portray House Republicans as hypocrites," he said, claiming Republicans often bash big government and its efforts to intrude into people's lives. But a grand jury report released last week by Mr. Corbett alleged that Mr. Perzel spent millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a high-tech computerized system to compile detailed information on voters and "gain a competitive advantage in campaigns."

Mr. Perzel, his former chief of staff Brian Preski, former GOP Rep. Brett Feese and seven others in the House Republican caucus were charged with wasting $10 million on political schemes and trying to cover up their actions.

But House Democrats have their own political weaknesses in Mr. Corbett's investigation, which has come to be known as Bonusgate. He has alleged that former Democratic Whip Mike Veon authorized taxpayer-funded bonuses to Democratic House staffers for working solely on campaigns to elect House Democrats in 2006, the year they wrested control of the chamber from Republicans.

The negative political publicity will gin up again for Democrats as the first of the Bonusgate-related trials start in court here.

As for Mr. Corbett himself, he's already being accused of playing gubernatorial politics with the lengthy investigation and preferring "headlines over ethics," as Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, a Democratic candidate for governor, put it last week.

The first Democratic trial in the Bonusgate investigation, for former state Rep. Sean Ramaley, begins in early December and Mr. Veon's trial is scheduled for January, promising ongoing "anti-corruption" publicity for Mr. Corbett well into the early months of 2010.

Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach -- who is running against Mr. Corbett in the May GOP gubernatorial primary -- also claims Mr. Corbett has a serious conflict of interest and is trying to use the ongoing Bonusgate investigation to gain publicity and boost his political image.

Both men have demanded that Mr. Corbett resign as attorney general if he continues running for governor and turn over the corruption investigation to his deputies. Mr. Corbett has refused to resign, saying there is no conflict of interest and that he isn't pushing the Bonusgate investigation to get votes.

As for the state House, Democrats control it now but Republicans want to regain powern.

Republicans controlled the chamber from 1995 until the November 2006 election, when Democrats eked out a one-vote margin. For 2009-10, Democrats control the House by a margin of only 104-99, so a net switch of a mere three seats in the November 2010 elections would throw control back to the Republicans.

Mr. Ardo didn't waste any time last week trying to capitalize politically on the arrests of House Republicans. He plans to focus on the $10 million that, according to the grand jury report, Mr. Perzel and other GOP staffers illegally used to develop computer programs that helped the GOP win House elections from 2002 to 2006.

"Many Republican House members have benefitted from this [political data] scheme, and it's hard to believe they didn't suspect something was amiss," Mr. Ardo said.

But Mr. Madonna said he's not convinced the Bonusgate charges or what he termed the new "techno-gate" charges will substantially hurt either Democrats or Republicans. He said the 12 Democrats were charged in July 2008, but the party still managed to gain a couple of seats in the House in the November 2008 elections.

He also noted that Mr. Perzel is the only one of the 10 GOP defendants who is still in the Legislature.

House Republican leader Sam Smith insists that Republicans work hard "to keep legislative activities apart from campaign activities ... We paid people -- with campaign dollars -- to work on campaigns and did not use legislative money to pay for that work."

He said that Republicans are "troubled" by grand jury allegations that some Republicans -- Mr. Feese in particular -- tried to obstruct the corruption probe. Republicans "have met with [Mr. Corbett's] investigators ... and provided requested information," he said.

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