PITTSBURGH -- The four Democrats vying to succeed Gov. Ed Rendell sat down Sunday in Pittsburgh for their second debate.

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, state Auditor General Jack Wagner and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato met voters in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, each of them explaining why they believe they are the best person for the job.

"We need to invest in our cities and small towns and take ownership of them. We share the same water, the same air, and it is my hope and dream that we will share the same values," Doherty said.

"We need a governor who's willing to challenge the way we do business in Harrisburg, a governor who's willing to challenge the Legislature to fix itself, to challenge the broken budgetary process," Hoeffel said.

"I believe we can do a better job in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and I've proven that as auditor general -- taking on (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency), changing the leadership of PHEAA, making sure that it's spending your taxpayer dollars right," Wagner said.

"President (Barack) Obama hosted a G-20 (Summit) here, and when he was leaving, he said, 'Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, southwestern Pennsylvania, that's the example of how you compete in the 21st century,' and we did this because we we're willing to make the tough decisions and we were willing to invest," Onorato said.

The Squirrel Hill debate on Sunday was sponsored by the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club.

Candidates Participate In Weekend Of Debates

The Democrats' first debate was held Saturday at a gathering sponsored by labor unions and citizen activist groups Friday night in Harrisburg.

Questions posed at the first debate on Saturday by some of the roughly 300 people at the first Pennsylvania Progressive Summit illuminated differences among the candidates on topics as politically tense as abortion rights, same-sex marriage, the fairness of state taxes, the legalization of marijuana and the future of the state liquor stores.

A campaign spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett, the front-runner in the GOP primary race, said his campaign turned down the invitation to the summit late last year because it conflicted with Corbett's plans to take part in weekend gathering of the southwest and northwest regional caucuses of the Republican State Committee. The caucuses planned to take straw votes on their gubernatorial preference as a prelude to the state committee's expected Feb. 13 endorsement vote.

The campaign of state Rep. Sam Rohrer, a Berks County conservative who is Corbett's only apparent primary foe, was not aware of the event until an Associated Press reporter called Friday afternoon to ask why Rohrer was not participating, spokesman Ryan Hite said. The spokesman said Rohrer, who declared his candidacy in November, would have attended had he known about the event.

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach had also been a candidate but dropped out of the race this month.

The Pennsylvania primary is Tuesday, May 18.

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