John Hanger, the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said he plans to challenge Gov. Tom Corbett in 2014. Hanger, 55, would be the first of several Democrats who are expected to challenge the Republican governor. The attorney, who is special counsel at Eckert Seamans, served as DEP secretary under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and was a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for five years. He also was president of advocacy group Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future. Hanger in early 2011 defended the state’s regulation of the natural gas industry, calling a story on drilling by a New York Times reporter “deliberately misleading” (see Daily GPI, March 1, 2011).

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