From the Blogs

LEFTOVERS: Earmark scrutiny for Critz, firefighters for Specter, Young Dems for Pike

by Dan Hirschhorn

Mark Critz’s staunchest critic might be out of the race, but that doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods.

The candidate who Barbara Hafer lambasted as un-vetted is facing scrutiny over a meeting he apparently attended in 2005 that led to an earmark for defense contractors, an earmark that eventually led to convictions. CQ Politics reports that Critz represented his late boss John Murtha at the meeting, though it’s far from clear…

March 10, 2010 at 11:31 pm | Comments (2)

Teachers’ union endorses Onorato

The state’s largest teachers’ union endorsed Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato Wednesday, giving the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful his most significant labor support in the race so far.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents about 200,000 teachers and other employees in public school and universities, backed Onorato during an event in Philadelphia.

“Dan Onorato shares our belief that the power of a great education can result in strong schools, successful children and vibrant communities,” PSEA…

March 10, 2010 at 6:30 pm | Comments (4)

From the Blogs

The (not quite) reinvention of Arlen Specter

by Dan Hirschhorn

My City Paper cover story about Arlen Specter hits newsstands Thursday. But it’s on the newspaper’s Web site now.

It’s far, far too long to even bother excerpting parts of it for you.

So check it out.

Enjoy.

March 10, 2010 at 6:05 pm | Comments (3)

Metcalfe calls himself an ‘accountability’ candidate

A day after surprising political watchers by filing nominating petitions to run for Lieutenant Governor, state Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) formally declared his candidacy with a pledge to “redefine” the office and even hold his future boss accountable.

Metcalfe, one of nine Republicans seeking the party’s nomination, is a conservative stalwart whose presence in the race is expected to shake up the political landscape of the crowded field.

“I will work throughout the four-year term…

March 10, 2010 at 5:04 pm | Comments (2)

From the Blogs

NRCC thinks big but takes big risks

by Michael Livingston

I recently received my “top secret” mailing from the National Republican Congressional Committee, indicating the 100 (!) seats the committee was targeting for the fall election, with a plan to  pour more than $1 million of national funds into the races. Operating on the assumption that anything I know about can’t be very secret, I feel free to divulge its  contents to my readers. Not that there are many surprises.

The most striking thing was…

March 10, 2010 at 2:00 pm | Comments (1)

Hafer had petition problems

Turns out Barbara Hafer may not have been able to make it on the ballot, even if she didn’t drop out of the 12th District race.

Capitolwire reports that when Hafer filed her nominating petitions Tuesday, she did so with only 1,013 signatures, barely more than the minimum 1,000. Facing a bitter race against endorsed Democrat Mark Critz, such a small number of signatures would have surely invited a ballot challenge. The revelation…

March 10, 2010 at 11:56 am | Comments (12)

Callahan, Lentz on first ‘Red to Blue’ list

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan and state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) are reportedly among the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s first round of “Red to Blue” candidates, a list highlighting the party’s highest-priority House challengers and open-seat candidates in the country.

Callahan, a White House recruit, is challenging Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) in the Lehigh Valley. Lentz is seeking to hold the seat being vacated by Democrat Joe Sestak, and is the Democrats’ presumptive nominee to take…

March 10, 2010 at 9:28 am | Comments (15)

Hafer steps aside in the 12th (Updated)

Democrat Barbara Hafer dropped out of the race in the 12th Congressional District Wednesday, abruptly ending a candidacy best known for her attempts to paint her main opponent as unelectable, a crusade that incensed longtime loyalists of the late Congressman John Murtha.

Hafer’s withdrawal came less than 24 hours after she was still defiantly questioning the process by which her opponent, Mark Critz, had won the party’s nomination for a special…

March 10, 2010 at 9:21 am | Comments (11)

From the Blogs

LEFTOVERS: Trivedi writes back, another DFA chapter for Hoeffel, petition signatures galore

by Dan Hirschhorn

Democrat Manan Trivedi has written back in response to Doug Pike’s call for a clean campaign, essentially saying: We’re already doing that buddy.

In a letter to Pike Tuesday, Trivedi said he was already running his campaign on “basic tenets of integrity.”

“I will continue to run an honest and truthful campaign focused on the vital issues important to families struggling in this economy,” Trivedi wrote. “I will present my ideas and qualifications…

March 9, 2010 at 11:39 pm | Comments (4)