Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the two great metros of the commonwealth, are destined to tangle over landing Amazon’s new headquarters. (Alejandro Alvarez photo)                 

Angela Couloumbis & Liz Navratil report for Philly.com:

“Western Pennsylvania offers many `quality-of-life’ enticements that would be attractive to corporate leaders and staff, a fact that regularly places the region on the top of `best places to live’ lists,” one letter to Wolf declared, signed by 12 senators including Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson).

Scarnati, whose hometown is not terribly close to Pittsburgh, only happens to be the third ranking state official in Pennsylvania.

Politics will not technically be a factor in the two cities’ expected bids for Amazon’s second headquarters, which dangles the promise of 50,000 high-paying jobs and billions in investments. But it is part of the equation in Harrisburg, as both cities — and possibly other areas in the state — vie for Wolf’s blessing as they attempt to land the coveted prize.

For his part, Wolf, a Democrat, is trying to be Switzerland.

“I’m the governor of Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in an interview Wednesday with the Inquirer and Post-Gazette. “We certainly don’t want to get into trying to play favorites within the Pennsylvania family.”

Wolf said his priority is to lure the corporate giant to the state, which he said is home to “two world-class cities.” He said he read about Amazon’s search for a new city late last week, and by Saturday was already schmoozing a top Amazon executive at the Pitt-Penn State football game in State College.

He also sent a handwritten note to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.