Category: Election Archive

Pastor Watkins Ends Lt. Gov. Bid

Joe Watkins, the pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church which is the oldest African American Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, has announced he is ending his bid to be the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor making the road for party-endorsed Joe Cawley, a Bucks County Commissioner, that much smoother.

Watkins was expected to Cawley’s biggest threat.

Those saying they are still in the race are:
Chet Beiler — former Lancaster County GOP chairman
Steve Johnson– York County businessman
Russ Diamond, founder of PaCleanSweep

Candidates who still have their campaign websites up include:
Billy McCue, a businessman
John Kennedy, a former state representative

The Democratic candidates are party-endorsed Jonathan Sadel, a former Philadelphia city controller; and Doris Smith-Ribner, a retired Commonwealth Courth judge.

The primary election is May 18.

More Seek Murtha Seat


The ballot to replace Democrat John Murtha as the representative for Pa-12 in Congress has gotten longer with announcements by Murtha’s former district director Mark Critz and Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. that they will seek the seat.

They join fellow Democrats former Lt. Gov Mark Singel and former State Treasurer Barbera Hafer in the race along with Ron Mackell Jr. and 34-year-old Ryan Bucchianeri who had begun primary challenges before Murtha’s Feb. 8 death.

Meanwhile, Murtha’s widow, Joyce, has announced she will not run.

The
leading contender for the GOP nomination is Bill Russell, who was
Murtha’s opposition in 2008.  GOP activist Dave Battaglia  and
businessman Tim Burns were also GOP primary candidates.

There will be a special election May 18, the day of the primary election, to fill the remaining months of Murtha’s term. The election for a full two-year term, of course, is in November.

Welch Quits 6th District Race

Chester County businessman Steven Welch announced this morning that he is ending his quest to represent Pennsylvania’s 6th District in Congress preventing what could have been a costly primary battle with incumbent Jim Gerlach.

Gerlach said last year he was going to seek a move to the Governor’s Mansion rather than re-election to Congress, causing several strong candidates to put their hats in the ring for the GOP primary. Gerlach ended the gubernatorial bid Jan. 7. The next day he announced he was going to try to keep his House seat.

State Rep. Curt Schroder (R-155) left the field, Jan. 11, so with Welch’s announcement the most dangerous primary challengers to Gerlach are out of the game.

The gerrymanded 6th District 
includes Lower Merion in Montgomery County, Coatesville and Yellow Springs in
Chester County, a large part of Berks County and part of Lehigh County.

Kudos to Pa2010.Com for the tip.

Singel Seeks Murtha Seat

Former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel has announced that he will seek the 12th District Pennsylvania congressional seat left vacant by the Feb. 8 death of fellow Democrat John Murtha.

A special election will be held, May 18, the same day as the primary election, to fill the remaining months of Murtha’s term. An election for a fresh term will occur in November.

Singel represented the 35th District in the state senate from 1981-87, before becoming being elected lieutenant governor with Gov. Bob Casey. He wasacting governor for six months in 1993.

Ron Mackell Jr. and 34-year-old Ryan Bucchianeri  had announced primary challenges to Murtha. With the congressman’s death former state Treasurer Barbera Hafer has also expressed interest in the seat. Another possible candidate is Murtha’s widow, Joyce.

The leading contender for the GOP nomination is Bill Russell, who was Murtha’s opposition in 2008.  GOP activist Dave Battaglia  and businessman Tim Burns were also GOP primary candidates.

I’ve met Singel. Somehow, the subject of economist Milton Friedman came up. Singel seemed confused as to who he was then dismissed him saying something akin to “he’s from the 60s”.

4 Staffers Leave Sestak

Important cogs of Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) Senate campaign have come off the wheel according to Pa2010.com.

Sestak is challenging incumbent and former Republican Arlen Specter in the May 18 Primary Election.

Political Director Rich Culbert and press operative Garry Ritterstein left soon after the  Democratic State Committee, Feb. 7, endorsed  Specter over Admiral Joe.

Others who left  were Jason Henry, who was effectively the campaign’s political
director for western Pennsylvania who took his leave in mid-January and Andrew Blum of volunteer operations who left in late January.

Snarlin’ Arlen Gets Party Endorsement

Arlen Specter is the party-endorsed candidate in the May 18 primary election for U.S. senator.  The Democratic State Committee gave the Republican turncoat its official blessing after a meeting yesterday in Lancaster, picking him over true-blue, ultra-liberal Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa7).

Congressman Murtha Has Died

Congressman John Murtha (D-Pa12) died today at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He was 77 and had represented his district since 1974.


Murtha’s  gallbladder was removed  Jan. 28 in what was considered a routine laparoscopic procedure at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. An infection developed, however, and on Feb. 1 he was moved to the intensive care unit at the Virginia Hospital Center.


Murtha, the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to congress, was Pennsylvania longest serving congressman and was seeking to win a 20th term this November. He chaired the House Subcommittee on Defense.

His district is the only one in the nation that voted for Republican presidential candidate  Sen. John McCain and for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Gov. Rendell is expected to call a special election to fill the seat. Murtha had challengers —Ron Mackell Jr. and  34-year-old Ryan Bucchianeri — in the May 18 Democratic Primary.

The leading contender for the GOP nomination is Bill Russell, who was Murtha’s opposition in 2008. He faces GOP activist Dave Battaglia  and businessman Tim Burns.

Snarlin’ Arlen’s Low Blow Against Admiral Joe

I think I might change my bet and put it on Admiral Joe “I Believe The World Is Burning To The Ground” Sestak as to who is going to be the Democratic nominee in this year’s Pennsylvania senate race. 

During last night’s Democratic candidate’s forum in Lancaster, incumbent Arlen “I Believe The World Is Burning To The Ground Too” Specter compared missed votes by the 7th District’s congressman to going AWOL in the Navy. It turned out that a lot of the votes Sestak missed were due to his spending time with his dying father who passed away in September. 
And Sestak, of course, had been hammering away throughout the night on the votes that Specter didn’t miss as a Republican in support of the Bush agenda which was not making Arlen a darlin’ with the Dems paying attention to the face-off.
Specter’s statement is akin to the bone-headed claim made by GOP incumbent Curt Weldon in the 2006 congressional race that Sestak should have been sending his four-year-old daughter to a Philadelphia-area hospital to treat her brain tumor. It was about then I thought Weldon might actually lose the race.
Still, to seal the deal Sestak did require a very strange last minute raid by federal agents on the homes and businesses of friends and relatives of Weldon — a raid which, btw, has yet to lead to any charges against the principals or serious charges against anybody. 
Maybe, I won’t change my bet.
If Sestak should wind up being the Dems’ pick, however, almost sure-bet GOP-nominee Pat Toomey  must keep in mind that Sestak is basically a nice guy. He doesn’t seem to hate anybody. He’s not sneaky. He’s not a liar. He’s not a thief. He’s not lazy. He’s not irresponsible, well perhaps intellectually but not in terms of keeping commitments and such.
What Sestak is, however, is an outspoken, staunch, true-blue believer in things that will make our lives much, much harder if they should ever be instituted. He is actually much worse than Arlen Specter whose constituency is first and perhaps only Arlen Specter.
If Toomey sticks to the issues, he’s going to win easily against either candidate.


Murtha Is In Intensive Care Unit

Congressman John Murtha (D-Pa12) has been placed in the intensive care unit at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va. following complications after his gall bladder surgery, yesterday.


Murtha,  Pennsylvania’s longest serving congressman, has represented his district since being elected in a special election in 1974. He is seeking his 20th term this November.

Barletta Endorses Corbett

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta who is seeking a rematch with Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski to represent the 11th District of Pennsylvania in Congress has endorsed Tom Corbett for governor.


Corbett is getting a tenacious battle in the GOP primary from underdog Sam Rohrer, who represents the 128th District in the State House.

Also in the race is National Guardsman Sgt. Robert Allen Mansfield.