Dan onorato is the
Democratic candidate running
for governor of Pennsylvania.
currently, he lives in
Brighton heights with his wife
and three-teenage children.
the following profile and
campaign positions were
obtained from the onorato
campaign website,
http://www.voteonorato.com.
Born on feb. 5, 1961 and
raised in Pennsylvania,
onorato grew up on
Pittsburgh’s north side. his
father was a mechanic and his
mother worked at a local elementary
school.
his parents did not go to college,
but onorato managed to
pay for his tuition through
working through the summer
in retail and building maintenance.
he graduated from
Penn state with a degree in
accounting, from which he
went on to work as a certified
Public accountant. he continued
his education at the
university of Pittsburgh
school of Law, where he
earned a law degree and met
his future wife, shelly.
onorato worked for several
years in the private sector
before running for public
office in Pittsburgh. in 1991 he
waged his campaign for
Pittsburgh city council. he
won the city council seat and
went on to win re-election in
1995.
in office, he felt passionate
about putting more police
offers on the streets, building
private-public partnerships to
save things such as the city
zoo and pass a tax cut to help
small businesses to create new
jobs.
By 1999, Dan had successfully
run for allegheny county
controller, and spent four
years in this position. in 2003,
he ran for executive of
allegheny county against an
incumbent republican. he
brought a more fiscally responsible
approach to governing
the county. he immediately
implemented reforms to eliminate
waste and worked to
transform Western
Pennsylvania, into a hub for
21st-century jobs.
he takes credit for cutting
property taxes twice, taking
action to prevent dramatic
swings in property values and
eliminating backdoor property
tax increases. allegheny
county is the only county in
the region to hold the line on
property taxes in each of the
past seven years. he also takes
credit for helping the private
sector thrive and create thousands
of good-paying jobs, and
promoting programs to help
women and minority-owned
businesses thrive.

His stance on the issues:
Jobs and the Economy
onorato wants to create jobs
through environmental work
opportunities and ensure that
Pennsylvania is responsive to
companies that want to invest
in our state. he also supports
making taxes more competitive
to improve the current
business climate. onorato
plans to help Pennsylvanians
get ready to succeed in the
workforce.
Energy and the
Environment
creating “green”-collar jobs
and focusing on “green”
opportunities is a major issue
that onorato is supporting. he
also supports maximizing
Pennsylvania’s energy production
portfolio, focusing on
renewable energy sources and
specifically the marcellus
shale natural gas reserves.
Healthcare
healthcare is another popular
issue that many candidates are
approaching. onorato is placing
empha
sis on enhancing the state’s
ability to improve care while
reducing healthcare costs.
onorato wants to meet the
growing demand for a high
skilled healthcare workforce,
which in turn can positively
affect the economy. he wants
to improve children’s health
and well-being. he wants to
address health disparities and
meet the long-term living
needs of Pennsylvania residents.
Public Safety
onorato is taking a stance on
public safety by addressing
illegal handguns and stepping
up gun control laws to aide in
crime prevention in
Pennsylvania. he also plans on
improving support and services
for victims of serious
crimes.
Higher Education
onorato’s platform on higher
education includes ensuring
that families can afford higher
education and increasing
Pennsylvainia’s higher education
institutions to spur new
inventions.
Government Reform
onorato supports reforming
state government by enacting
term limits while reducing the
size of the senate and house.
he wants to curb the power of
special interests and improve
accountability and transparency
in state government.