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Auditor General Wagner running for re-election
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HARRISBURG -- To the surprise of virtually no one, Auditor General Jack Wagner said today he's running for another four-year term as the state's chief financial watchdog.
Mr. Wagner, a former state senator, Pittsburgh City Council president and Vietnam War veteran, claimed credit for "saving the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars by exposing the waste, fraud and abuse of public funds throughout the commonwealth.''
One of his most notable audits, done last year, was of PHEAA, the state agency that helps students finance college costs with grants and loans. Mr. Wagner said that audit "uncovered $7.5 million in bonuses to hundreds of employees over the last three years.''
Mr. Wagner spent 10 years in the state Senate, from 1994-2004, the year he first ran for auditor general. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 2002 for lieutenant governor.
Mr. Wagner, who lives in the Beechview section of Pittsburgh, didn't mention in his news release the issue that many people in Harrisburg and around the state want to know -- might he run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010? He has often been mentioned as a candidate to succeed Gov. Ed Rendell (who is term-limited and can't run), but Mr. Wagner says he is totally focused on winning a second term as auditor general this year.
First Published January 7, 2008 10:00 am
