Mark Critz names campaign manager

Former Congressman Mark Critz, who represented half of Washington County and all of Greene County before the boundaries of his district placed him outside of this area, named a campaign manager for his Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial campaign.
Critz, of Johnstown, announced Pittsburgh native Nick Bonesso will fill the post. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Bonesso has been a political and communications consultant for more than 25 years.
Last year, he was campaign manager for Jennifer Satler in the race for judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. He was also a fundraising host for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Pittsburgh City Councilman Dan Gilman and Councilwoman Deb Gross.
The deadline for filing nominating petitions is March 11 in Harrisburg in advance of the May 20 primary election. Pennsylvania voters, not the gubernatorial nominees, choose the lieutenant governor candidates whose names will appear on the general election ballot.
Critz, 52, was born and raised in North Huntingdon, Westmoreland County. He graduated from Norwin High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in management information sciences.
He was U.S. Rep. John Murtha’s district director in Johnstown until the congressman died in February 2010. Critz’s race against Republican Tim Burns of North Strabane Township to succeed Murtha drew national attention, with U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., Ted Kennedy’s successor, campaigning on Burns’s behalf.
Critz prevailed twice against Burns, once in a special election and again in a general election, but as a one-term congressman, he lacked the political clout of his predecessor, and his district boundaries were profoundly different due to the reapportionment in the aftermath of the 2010 U.S. Census. In the next primary, Critz defeated fellow incumbent Democrat Jason Altmire in a district that no longer included any part of Washington or Greene counties. Critz then lost the 12th Congressional District seat to Republican Keith Rothfus in November 2012.
While in Congress, he co-chaired the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Caucus and is now a senior vice president in Johnstown for EIS Solutions of Colorado.
The incumbent lieutenant governor is James F. Cawley of Bucks County, a former county commissioner.
In an unofficial list of Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, Ballotpedia.org includes Critz, state Sen. Michael Stack III of Philadelphia; Brad I. Koplinski, Harrisburg city councilman; Brenda Alton, Harrisburg parks and recreation director; state Sen. John Wozniak of Johnstown; state Sen. Larry Farnese of Philadelphia; state Rep. John Galloway of Bucks County; John Morganelli, Northampton County district attorney; and Mark Smith, Bradford County commissioner.
Democrats who are testing the waters for a gubernatorial candidacy, according to the Associated Press, have been state Treasurer Rob McCord, state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, York County businessman Tom Wolf and former state Department of Environmental Protection secretary John Hanger.