2018 Pa. governor's race: Who is Scott Wagner?

He's a wealthy York County businessman who's proud to call himself a garbage man, a candidate for Pennsylvania governor who is frequently compared to President Donald Trump, and a former political outsider who won the endorsement of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania.

That's Scott Wagner, a state senator from York County. You might have seen TV ads with him standing in front of trash, promising to put big government in the dumpster.

On May 15, he defeated two other Republicans to win his party's nomination for governor. He is now running for governor against Democratic incumbent Tom Wolf.

Here's what you need to know.

How did Wagner make his millions?

After dropping out of a community college, he pursued several businesses as a young man. He opened a ski shop with a partner, owned laundromats and real estate, and had a bail bonding license.

But he had the most success running trash companies. In 1985, Wagner created York Waste Disposal. Uncle Robert A. Kinsley partnered with him on the venture. Wagner ran the day-to-day operations.

Wagner and Kinsley sold York Waste Disposal in 1997 and then opened up a competitor in 2000, Penn Waste. The business has grown over the years.

A January 2003 column in the York Daily Record described how Wagner would sometimes work on the back of his Penn Waste trucks.

Story continues after this video of Wagner talking about his business background.

What is Wagner's net worth?

It was about $20 million, a judge wrote in 2012. Years later, Wagner disputed that figure, but declined to offer another estimate.

How much has he spent on political campaigns?

A lot.

From 2007 through part of 2016, Wagner gave more than $3.2 million in direct contributions or loans to elect state lawmakers, judges and other candidates in Pennsylvania. The analysis was based on individual contributions of $1,000 or more.

And he is putting millions of his own money into his campaign for governor.

Why was his state Senate victory in 2014 such a big deal?

He won with a write-in campaign to defeat the Republican and Democratic nominees.

The state wasn't aware of anyone ever winning a state legislative seat through a write-in campaign before Wagner did it.

How did he win in 2014?

He ran as an outsider, accused party leaders of rigging the system against him and talked about his business background.

He also withstood a lot of attacks.

In 2013, before Wagner announced he was running for the state Senate, someone anonymously sent out court documents outlining some aspects of his dealings with a temporary protection-from-abuse order and child support. "There is an attempt by someone out there to trash me," Wagner said during an interview at a Penn Waste Inc. office.

He defended himself from several other attacks during that campaign, including that his business sued a woman over unpaid trash bills. The Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee ran ads saying that, "With millionaire trash man Scott Wagner, something doesn't smell right."

What has Wagner done in office?

Wagner helped push the General Assembly in a more fiscally conservative direction.

He spearheaded efforts to replace Republican Dominic Pileggi as Senate majority leader.

And he has helped Republicans win Senate seats in Erie, southwestern Pennsylvania and other parts of the state. That has involved using his own money in campaigns.

More: 2018 election in Pa.: Gov. Tom Wolf, Scott Wagner and the big fight to come

More: Who has received $100,000 or more from Wagner?

More: Is Scott Wagner using his wallet to shape the Legislature?

The story continues after this video about Wagner's campaign contributions.

Along the way, he's also clashed with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and public-sector unions. In 2015, Wagner took an abc27 television reporter on a helicopter ride over Pennsylvania schools to argue that the state already spends a lot of money on schools.

After he won the GOP nomination, he told Senate leadership that he would resign on June 4.

His campaign spokesman said he decided to resign so he can focus on his campaign for governor.

Why do people compare Wagner to Trump?

Here's how a writer for Philadelphia magazine put it earlier this year: "They’re both big-talking, hard-charging businessmen with multiple marriages who bum-rushed their way into politics even though the Republican establishment did everything in its power to stop them. They both have a talent for political theater and a tendency to fly off the handle."

That was one of the many Trump comparisons that have been made.

More: Can Wagner follow Trump's Pa. win?

More: Sen. Scott Wagner gets some religious heat for dissing George Soros

But despite the similarities, Trump wasn't Wagner's first choice for president. Instead, Wagner initially backed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who received nationwide attention for clashing with public-sector unions.

But Wagner became a prominent Trump supporter, and Wagner's business hosted Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, for a September 2016 campaign rally.

What did Wagner say about global warming?

In March 2017, Wagner told a WITF reporter: "I haven't been in a science class in a long time, but the Earth moves closer to the sun every year — you know, the rotation of the Earth. We're moving closer to the sun."

He also said, "We have more people ... you know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing ... but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can."

The comments drew a lot of criticism, and HBO's John Oliver mocked Wagner over them.

What are Wagner's odds of winning the governor's race?

His campaign has released highlights from its internal polling that showed Wagner was the front-runner in the race. And he won the endorsement of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania in February.

In October 2018, the conservative National Review described him like this: "State senator Scott Wagner is hoping his blunt talk and results-oriented approach will be enough to unseat Democratic governor Tom Wolf in 2018. He might be right."

Meanwhile, polls have shown that Wolf is in "reasonably decent shape," Franklin & Marshall pollster G. Terry Madonna said last year.

Who is Wagner running against?

Paul Mango, a former health care systems consultant, and attorney Laura Ellsworth are also seeking the GOP nomination for governor. The Pennsylvania primary is scheduled to take place May 15.

Mango's campaign recently released an ad calling Wagner a slumlord and a deadbeat dad, sleazy, toxic and greedy. Wagner says Mango is a liar and a phony.

On the Democratic side, Wolf is seeking re-election.

Does Wagner have a running mate?

Yes, Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer.

Wagner and Bartos are running together. But in Pennsylvania, governor and lieutenant governor candidates are decided separately in primaries and then join together as a ticket for the general election.

That means it’s possible Wagner could win the Republican nomination for governor, but someone other than Bartos could win the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. And vice versa.

Where did Wagner grow up?

In York County. When he was a kid, he would shovel horse manure on his parents' York Township farm, he has said.

He graduated from Dallastown Area High School in 1973. He now lives in Spring Garden Township.



