Construction unions back O’Brien in 11th (Updated)

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien got the first labor endorsements of his congressional campaign Wednesday, when construction unions in the county backed him over incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski.

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Building & Constructions Trades Council and the Scranton Building and Construction Trades Council, which together represent about 10,000 workers, both gave their support to O’Brien’s primary challenge.

“We know that Corey will fight for our region to ensure that our local workers have good-paying…

March 3, 2010 at 2:46 pm | Comments (4)

O’Brien wants 10 forums with Kanjorski

Even by the standards of today’s campaign debate challenges, this one might be aiming high.

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien’s congressional campaign is seeking 10 candidate forums with incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) between now and the May 18 primary day, allotting two for each of the counties in the district. The request was made in a letter Tuesday from O’Brien’s campaign manager to Kanjorski’s campaign manager.

“In this critical election year,” campaign manager Justin…

February 23, 2010 at 3:11 pm | Comments (8)

LEFTOVERS: More on the 12th, Cook downgrades Kanjorski, Rohrer on the ‘rebellion’

The pieces are almost done coming together in the 12th Congressional District. Friend-of-the-site Alex Roarty reports that wealthy Crown America Mark Pasquerilla is seriously considering a run. Though he has been a Murtha supporter in the past, Pasquerilla is a registered Republican whose ability to self-fund a campaign could rival that of fellow GOPer Tim Burns.

Alex also tells us that state Representatives Jeff Pyle (R-Indiana) and Dave Reed (R-Indiana), as well…

February 18, 2010 at 11:30 pm | Comments (3)

O’Brien handicapping Kanjorski’s chances at ‘zero’

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien is keeping up the electability argument.

O’Brien, who’s mounting an underdog primary challenge to Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), says the longtime incumbent just can’t win a general election two years after he barely won in a Democratic sweep year.

“There is zero chance Paul Kanjorski defeats Lou Barletta. Zero,” O’Brien told Politico. “I may be wrong about that, but I’m not good at negative numbers. Republicans are giddy about this…

February 4, 2010 at 11:54 am | Comments (2)

Kanjorski enjoys big fundraising edge over O’Brien

Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) had almost $975,000 in campaign cash at the end of last year, giving him a war chest almost nine times the size of his primary challenger’s, according to campaign finance data.

Kanjorski raised about $233,000 in the last three months of 2009, according to his fourth-quarter campaign finance report. Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien, who is running against Kanjorski in the May primary, raised about $180,000 and finished…

January 29, 2010 at 11:47 am | Comments (2)

O’Brien says he’s raised $200K

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien said Tuesday that his congressional campaign had raised more than $200,000 last year, finishing 2009 with about $110,000 in cash on hand.

O’Brien, who is challenging Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) in the May primary, has already started airing a campaign commercial on local cable stations. His campaign disclosed its fourth-quarter fundraising numbers ahead of the FEC filing deadline at the end of this month, and again sought to…

January 26, 2010 at 7:07 pm | Comments (3)

O’Brien is on the air

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien is up with his first campaign commercial of the 11th District Democratic primary, a 30-second spot in which he vows to bring jobs to the region.

“We need work,” O’Brien says in the ad, embedded above. “I have a six-year-old, a four-year-old and one on the way. And they’re going to have jobs when they get older, right here in Pennsylvania.”

The campaign said the ad was running on cable…

January 25, 2010 at 8:44 pm | Comments (0)

On financial reform, Kanjorski gets an indirect Obama boost (Updated)

Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) received something of an indirect boost from the White House Thursday when President Obama proposed measures to restrict the size of financial institutions, an effort that echoes legislation Kanjorski has been pushing for some time. Coming as he faces attacks from a primary opponent who accuses him of being too close to Wall Street, the president’s seemingly new-found interest in the “too-big-to-fail” issue could…

January 21, 2010 at 8:17 pm | Comments (1)

In video, O’Brien’s just a regular guy

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien released the first Web video of his congressional campaign on Wednesday, a six-and-half minute biography juxtaposing interviews with the 11th District hopeful with testimonials from people like the local high school coach and the mayor of his hometown.

The video, embedded above, was O’Brien’s first concerted attempt to define himself for voters, less than 16 weeks before he looks to unseat longtime incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) in a primary.…

January 20, 2010 at 4:14 pm | Comments (0)

O’Brien: Kanjorski is ‘protecting Wall Street’

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien sought Thursday to frame his primary against Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) as a contest between Main Street and Wall Street, asserting that campaign finance reports to be published this month would prove who is “protecting Wall Street, and who is protecting Main Street.”

“He hasn’t supported working families in our region because he is too busy protecting Wall Street,” O’Brien told pa2010.com after rolling out an economic plan.…

January 7, 2010 at 4:00 pm | Comments (6)