Rendell wins Dem. gov. nomination in Pa.

PHILADELPHIA, May 22 (UPI) -- Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell on Tuesday defeated Pennsylvania Auditor General Bob Casey Jr. to capture the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Pennsylvania.

With more than 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Rendell was ahead by 12 percentage points, with 56 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Casey.

The man who once proclaimed himself "America's mayor" claimed victory in a packed ballroom at a downtown Philadelphia hotel.

He kicked off his campaign against Republican Mike Fisher by promising to call a special legislative session when he is elected to change the state's method of school funding, asserting that he can reduce property taxes by 30 percent.

Rendell entered the race in February 2001 as an underdog. While his ebullient performance in two terms in City Hall had given him a national reputation, he was something of an unknown quantity in much of his home state.

Pennsylvania -- once described by political strategist James Carville as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Alabama in the middle -- has large rural areas suspicious of the cities.

Casey, whose father, the late Bob Casey, was a popular two-term governor, had a famous name and held statewide office. He had the support of many traditional Democratic groups, including Philadelphia municipal unions still angry about Rendell's hard-nosed negotiations.

But Casey ran a lackluster campaign, marked by negative ads. Rendell, using President Bill Clinton's playbook, ran upbeat commercials, including some featuring Bradley Whitford, a native Pennsylvanian who plays presidential aide Josh Lyman on the political drama "The West Wing."

In the end, Rendell crushed Casey by more than 3-1 in Philadelphia and swept the suburban areas. He also made a strong showing in western Pennsylvania, winning about half the vote in Pittsburgh and even carrying some rural counties.

If Rendell defeats Fisher in November, he will become one of the few big-city mayors to have made a successful breakout. Even a mayor as successful as New York's Ed Koch was unable to overcome the antipathy between residents in major cities and the population in the rest of the state.

Rendell and Casey represent different strains of Democratic thinking, although they agree on many issues. Casey campaigned for economic justice, modeling himself on Hubert Humphrey. Like his father, he is also a strong opponent of abortion and of gun control.

Rendell, a liberal on social issues, emphasized economic growth, pointing to his success in cutting Philadelphia's wage tax.

Fisher, a former state senator now serving as a state attorney general, ran unopposed in the Republican primary. While that allowed him to save his money for the fall campaign, Rendell's bruising primary fight -- including travel around the state for one-on-one campaigning -- has given voters a chance to see him close-up.