Are you looking for a nonpartisan voter guide to the Tom Corbett vs. Tom Wolf Governor's race? One that will give you an unbiased, no-spin comparison of candidate positions on key issues? That's what our Campus Election Engagement Project guide will give you! We are a national nonpartisan initiative working with college and university administrators, faculty, and student leaders to increase student participation in America's elections. For the 2014 elections we have created and distributed voter guides to campuses in more than 20 states so they can provide their communities with accurate information for informed voting. Because these guides have been so well received and are useful for all voting citizens who want to be better informed, we are also posting them here.
We developed our guides by analyzing information from trusted resources such as www.votesmart.org, www.ontheissues.org, www.ballotpedia.com, www.politifact.com, www.factcheck.org, www.vote411.org and from candidate websites, public debates and interviews, and statements in major media outlets. We also showed them to groups like campus Young Republicans and Young Democrats at the schools we work with to verify their fairness and lack of bias.
So here are the issue-by-issue stands for Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf, with additional links at the bottom for each candidate if you'd like to dig deeper.
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Education: Do you support increasing funding for K-12 education?
Corbett: Contested. Conflicting views on cuts vs. increases over time; related to interpretation of budget. (See PA Fact Finder analysis of Corbett's K-12 budget over time.)
Wolf: Yes
Education: Do you support the effort to standardize and increase school standards under the Common Core initiative?
Corbett: No. Reversed his long standing support in Sept 2014.
Wolf: No
Education: Do you support providing vouchers to parents to send their children to private schools with public money?
Corbett: Yes
Wolf: No
Education: Do you support increasing funding for higher education?
Corbett: No. In 2011 proposed 50% cuts. Legislature reduced to 18-19%. Funding has remained level since then. (See Penn Live article for more detail on Corbett's past and current higher education budgets.)
Wolf: Yes
Elections: Do you support requiring registered voters to present a photo-ID in order to vote?
Corbett: Yes
Wolf: No
Elections: Do you support increasing restrictions on campaign donations?
Corbett: Unknown
Wolf: Yes
Environment: Do you believe that human activity is a major factor contributing to climate change?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes
Environment: Do you support taking government action to limit the levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes
Environment: Do you support government mandates and/or subsidies for renewable energy?
Corbett: Supports current renewable energy standard (Corbett has maintained commitment to previously established state renewable energy mandates, while putting more emphasis on expanding traditional energy sources and decreasing regulations.)
Wolf: Yes
Gay Marriage: Do you support gay marriage?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes
Gun Control: Do you support enacting more restrictive gun control legislation?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Supports background checks and bans on assault weapons
Healthcare: Do you support the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes
Healthcare: Should your state accept federal funds so Medicaid will cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line?
Corbett: Yes. Initially opposed but now supports using private insurers. (Gov. Corbett created the "Healthy PA" plan, which is similar to an expansion of Medicaid but uses private insurers rather than the government for a portion of those under 139% of the poverty line.)
Wolf: Yes. Would shift back to a straight Medicaid system.
Marijuana: Do you support efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana?
Corbett: Supports low-THC extract for childhood epilepsy; opposes other medical marijuana
Wolf: Supports medical marijuana and decriminalization for possession of under 1 oz
Minimum Wage: Do you support raising the minimum wage?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes
Social Issues: Should abortion be highly restricted?
Corbett: Yes
Wolf: No
Social Issues: Should employers be able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally?
Corbett: Yes
Wolf: No
Taxes: Have you signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to oppose any tax increases to raise revenue? (The answer to this question is taken from the database of signatories of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, created by Americans for Tax Reform. Signers to the pledge promise to oppose "any and all tax increases" meant to generate additional revenue.)
Corbett: Yes
Wolf: No
Taxes: Would you increase taxes on corporations and/or high-income individuals to pay for public services?
Corbett: No
Wolf: Yes. Proposes 5% extraction tax.
Unions: Should union dues be made voluntary for those represented by a union?
Corbett: Would sign such a bill if passed by the legislature but not a priority.
Wolf: No
Learn more about the candidates:
Corbett: Tom Corbett Vote Smart pages and Tom Corbett On the Issues pages
Wolf: Tom Wolf Vote Smart pages and Tom Wolf On the Issues pages
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