Singel won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994 and faced Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Ridge in the general election. Singel lost the general election to Ridge. Some people in the party blamed Casey for Singel's loss, noting that Casey, who was anti-abortion, gave only lackluster support to the pro-choice Singel. Casey declined to either campaign or raise money for Singel's candidacyan incident that reportedly caused a deep rift between the two men. Singel's loss was also attributed to the influence of the Reginald McFadden case. McFadden had been sentenced to life in prison in 1970 for a robbery/homicide. In 1992, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons voted to release him. At the time, Singel, as Lt. Governor, served on the board and had voted in favor of McFadden's release. The vote of the entire board was 4 - 1 in favor of release. In 1994, McFadden was released from prison and subsequently murdered two people and kidnapped and raped a third within 90 days of being released. When news of the murders broke, Singel's opponent, Tom Ridge, turned Singel's vote to release McFadden into a campaign issue. This issue, which was compared to the case of Willie Horton, was cited as another reason why Singel lost the campaign. The story of Reginald McFadden's crime spree was later the focus of an episode of This American Life.
Later career
After Singel's unsuccessful gubernatorial bid, he remained active in Democratic politics. He served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party from June 3, 1995 to December 31, 1997 and was a Presidential Elector in 1996. He briefly considered running against Senator Rick Santorum in 2000, but withdrew his name from consideration and backed eventual nominee, Pittsburgh-area Congressman Ron Klink. In 2000, Singel joined the Philadelphia-based law firmDuane Morris as lobbyist and director of its Johnstown, Pennsylvania, branch office. Singel started his own firm, The Winter Group, in 2005 and continues to practice government affairs today in downtown Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2003 "The Pennsylvania Report Power 75" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics, describing him as a Harrisburg lobbyist and "Rendell Confidante" and noting that he had been a prominent surrogate for Rendell during the 2002 gubernatorial election and "had a big hand in filling positions with the new administration." He also occasionally teaches classes at the localPenn State Harrisburg campus. He was named to the PoliticsPA list of "Sy Snyder's Power 50" list of influential individuals in Pennsylvania politics in 2003. On February 19, 2010, Singel announced his intention to run in the special election to fill the seat of the late Democrat John Murtha, provided Murtha's widow decided not to run. He ended his bid for Congress ten days later, citing the need for the party to unite behind one candidate.
