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HARRISBURG, Pa. Democrat Tom Wolf took office Tuesday as Pennsylvania's 47th chief executive, portraying himself as a political outsider while appealing for cooperation in a divided state government plagued by budget deficits and partisan stalemate.

Ex-governors and lawmakers were among the more than 4,000 people that Wolf's office estimated to be at the ceremony outside the state Capitol building.

"I am an unconventional leader," said Wolf, a former businessman. "I may be the first governor of Pennsylvania who ever operated a forklift, ever managed a hardware store. I volunteered for the Peace Corps. I ran a business."

Wolf, 65, outlined his goals in an inaugural address that used positive, general terms ending educational disparities in public schools, creating good-paying jobs and providing "a government that works" but gave no more specifics to ambitious goals that he laid out during his campaign.

He did not mention the obstacle of a projected $2 billion-plus revenue gap for the fiscal year that starts July 1 or his proposals that include levying a new tax on the natural gas industry, restructuring the state income tax and increasing public school funding.

"Nothing is more essential than working together to make sure that every child in Pennsylvania has access to a great education and that all teachers have the resources they need to deliver that great education," Wolf said. "Our schools must be our highest priority."

Throughout his swearing-in and speech, gas drilling protesters chanted, "Ban fracking now!" Eight people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at the inauguration, police said.

Wolf, who ran his family's building-products distribution company in York County for nearly 30 years, beat Republican Gov. Tom Corbett after plowing $10 million of his own money into a highly effective TV advertising blitz. He is scheduled to present his budget proposals in an address March 3 to the Legislature.

Corbett attended the inauguration along with former governors Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker, both Republicans. Former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell introduced Wolf at the ceremony.

GOP majority leaders in both houses of the Legislature have said they want to curb rising costs, such as public employee pensions, or privatize the state-run system of liquor and wine sales before they would consider raising taxes.

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Democrat Tom Wolf is sworn in as Pennsylvania's 47th governor, appeals for bipartisanship

The U.S. Senate race in California next year could be the first in modern state history with no Republican candidate, but thats not necessarily ideal for Democrats.

The contest to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, will be the first Senate election without an incumbent conducted under the top-two primary system approved in 2010. Under this system, all candidates run in a nonpartisan primary, and the two who receive the most votes face off in the general election regardless of party affiliation.

With Republicans comprising just 28 percent of the statewide electorate, there is a good chance that the top two candidates will be Democrats.

SEE ALSO: Scott Brown mocked by @ScottBrownCA: Tweets say ex-senator mulling Barbara Boxers seat

That could be a problem.

The California Democratic Party is increasingly divided between two camps: left-wing progressives and pro-business centrists. That rift would be further exposed in an all-Democrat election.

Given that the cost of the race is expected to hit a record-breaking $100 million, California Democrats could spend a fortune slinging mud at fellow Democrats rather than Republicans.

Indeed, the best-case scenario for Democrats may be one in which a Republican squeaks onto the general election ballot. That would give the race a partisan cast that Democrats could win easily at a much lower cost.

Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who now heads the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, noted that the states business community spent millions of dollars this year backing centrist Democratic candidates in legislative races.

A Nov. 23 analysis by the Sacramento Bee found that seven of the 10 Democratic Assembly and Senate candidates running in open seats who were funded by pro-business, independent-expenditure committees won their races.

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All-Democrat California Senate race could expose intraparty rifts, drain funds

Updated, 4:24 p.m.:

Read more here about Moores quire-recent (2013) change on the issue of abortion.

Updated at 12:38 p.m. with comments from Carol Gregory:

In what is becoming a pattern in the Federal Way-areas 30th Legislative District, a Democrat has switched parties to run for the state Legislature as a Republican.

Martin Moore

Federal Way City CouncilmemberMartin Moore announced Tuesday hellrun this fall for the seat held by Democrat Carol Gregory, who was appointed after the death of Rep. Roger Freeman in October.

Moore worked as an aide for Freeman. Healso is close friends with state Sen. Mark Miloscia who switched parties last year and won election as a Republican to the 30th District state Senate seat.

Like Miloscia, Moore said he no longer felt welcome in his former party as a pro-life Democrat opposed to abortion.

The party has becomeso incredibly intolerant of people who might disagree with them on some issues, Moore said in an interview. The party has shifted enormously, and its gone to the far left.

Link:
Another Democrat switches parties to run for Federal Way legislative seat

Posted: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 1:01 pm | Updated: 4:01 pm, Tue Jan 20, 2015.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Democrat Tom Wolf has been sworn in as Pennsylvania's 47th governor, replacing Republican Tom Corbett.

Wolf took his oath of office Tuesday before a huge crowd gathered for the ceremony outside the Capitol.

The 65-year-old Wolf is calling for bipartisanship in a divided state government and has said his goals are creating good-paying jobs, good schools and a government that works.

Wolf is a former businessman who ran his family's business for nearly 30 years. He tapped his personal wealth to give himself a leg up in his first election campaign.

Wolf denied former Corbett a second term by winning nearly 55 percent of the vote. He was the only Democrat nationally to unseat a sitting Republican governor in the Nov. 4 election.

2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Democrat Tom Wolf sworn in as Pennsylvania's 47th governor

He said that Pheu Thai legal specialist Ruangkrai Leekijwattana's claim that the petition filed by the Democrats against Yingluck over the ricepledging scheme was unlawful had no basis in fact.

Jurit said the party filed the petition with the Senate on November 15, 2013, seeking the impeachment of Yingluck. He said 152 MPs endorsed the petition but after the Senate checked it, six of those MPs resigned. The petition was left with the signatures of 146 MPs, which was not less than the number of MPs required to seek impeachment according to Provision 271 of the 2007 Constitution.

The Senate took ten days to look into the petition before submitting it to the National AntiCorruption Commission on November 25, 2013.

Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanich checked the list of MPs, he said, and that was when Ruangkrai should have contacted Nikom.

The National Legislative Assembly will vote on Friday on whether or not Yingluck be impeached over charges by the NACC that she failed to stop corruption in the rice pledging scheme that led to losses amounting to at least Bt500 billion.

The Pheu Thai camp had speculated that Yingluck would probably be impeached because most NLA members were rightwing extremists.

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Pheu Thai's claim not true : Democrat