LEFTOVERS: SpecterPride, Kanjorski’s stimulus job, electricians for Pike

Reporters on the ground from Plymouth Meeting to Latrobe, and we still managed to miss plenty on Thursday.

Senator Arlen Specter will be formally rolling out his committee of major supporters within the LGBT community on Friday, in what his campaign is calling SpecterPride. The 68-member group includes Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News. “No other elected official in all of Pennsylvania has such a long record of accomplishments on LGBT issues as…

March 12, 2010 at 1:32 am | Comments (2)

THE PRESS ROOM: Local blogs spring up to slam candidates

An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns are playing out in the media—in print, on the air, online and behind the scenes.

Think pa2010.com is catering to a narrow niche? Think again.

A plethora of new Web sites are sprouting up in the blogosphere, mostly as vehicles to bash candidates loathed by their authors, but sometimes just to cover a particular race from a certain ideological view. Whether these blogs will play any…

February 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm | Comments (8)

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)

Barletta endorses Corbett for governor

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta endorsed Attorney General Tom Corbett for governor on Monday, in what seemed to be a political no-brainer for the Republican congressional candidate.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I endorse my friend and our Attorney General Tom Corbett for Governor,” Barletta said in a statement. “I pledge my support to his effort and look forward to being on the ticket with him this year.”

There was so little political risk in…

February 1, 2010 at 7:22 pm | Comments (2)

After late entrance, Barletta has $52K; still in debt

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta only had about a month to raise money for his third congressional run before the door closed on 2009. In that time, racked up about $60,000 in donations, finishing the year with about $52,000 in cash on hand, according to campaign finance data.

As he looks for another showdown with Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), the first quarter of 2010 will be a more accurate gauge of his fundraising…

February 1, 2010 at 7:30 am | Comments (0)

Fundraising sparse, Paige signals he’s ready to spend

With relatively few campaign contributions to boast, Republican hedge fund executive Chris Paige signaled last weekend that he’s prepared to spend at least $300,000 on his attempt to win the GOP’s nomination in the 11th Congressional District.

Paige, considered an underdog to party-favorite Lou Barletta, has raised about $21,000 during the election cycle so far, and finished 2009 with only $3,500 in cash on hand, according to campaign finance data. Much of…

February 1, 2010 at 7:00 am | Comments (0)

Pa. pols react to State of the Union

Even before President Obama had started delivering his first State of the Union address Wednesday night, elected officials and candidates for office were putting out statements in response.

Here is a sampling of the reactions.

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7), candidate for Senate:

“I applaud the President tonight for recognizing that in 2008, Americans voted for change, not just of parties or policies, but for a fundamental change in politics and the way we do business…

January 28, 2010 at 11:45 am | Comments (8)

Barletta’s primary challenger does his own messaging (Updated)

In going after political opponents, most candidates for office look to staffers to do the dirty work of writing up press releases and crafting the message of their campaigns.

Not Chris Paige.

A few months into his Republican bid for Congress in the 11th District, and barely a month after he got a primary opponent in Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, Paige appears to have settled into a comfortable rhythm as his own spokesman.…

January 6, 2010 at 4:02 pm | Comments (0)

Barletta: Kanjorski doesn’t have Obama this year

NEW YORK—Republicans were pretty confident they would unseat Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) last year. If the mood at Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta’s reception here Friday is any indication, they’re almost cocky this time.

Amid chatter of things being different in Barletta’s third run against Kanjorski this decade, Republicans took solace in one key political change: Barack Obama will not be on the ballot.

“There’s no Barack Obama this year,” Barletta told pa2010.com during a brief…

December 11, 2009 at 5:58 pm | Comments (3)

Analysts see another close race in 11th District

Political watchers from Washington to Harrisburg widely considered Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) to be the most vulnerable Democrat in Congress last year, but that didn’t stop Kanjorski from beating every prediction and slipping past Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta by three points.

It’s far too early to make such a blanket “most vulnerable” statement this year. But with Barletta jumping into the race against Kanjorski for the third time this decade,…

December 10, 2009 at 7:30 am | Comments (1)