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Luksik: I was here first

In the weeks leading up to Republican Pat Toomey’s announcement that he would run for Senate, Peg Luksik, who had already declared her candidacy, made it abundantly clear what she thought of conservative sentiment that she should step aside in favor of Toomey, widely considered the more viable candidate.

“I’m running,” she told pa2010.com recently, before Toomey had entered the race. “If [Toomey] wants to get in on top of me and split the vote, I guess he’ll have to answer for why he wants to do that.”

Scattered reports and political chatter have made it clear Luksik wasn’t happy with Toomey’s decision to run. When he was still leaning toward a gubernatorial run, he was said to have told her she could take on incumbent Senator Arlen Specter herself.

Now, conservatives are nervously grinding their teeth, hoping Luksik will move over to avoid splitting the opposition vote in Specter’s favor.

Lowman Henry, who chairs the Harrisburg conservative think tank The Lincoln Institute, said Luksik, known mostly as a pro-life activist, would only garner 2-3 percent of the vote, and would have to decide if that was worth taking votes from Toomey in what is expected to be a tight contest.

“She’s going to just have to take whatever time she needs to sort through this,” Henry said. “I’ve cautioned people not to get too worried about it. I’m hopeful she’ll realize this isn’t going to work out, but she needs to come to that conclusion on her own.”

Luksik says no such revelation is coming, and that she’s the candidate who can win next November.

“I understand Mr. Toomey and Mr. Specter have a long, contentious history,” she said. “I understand their desire to hit each other—I have five boys. But we need to look past that desire.”

G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College, said having both Toomey and Luksik in the race would undoubtedly be a boon for Specter.

“That’s a dream come true for Specter,” he said, “as opposed to facing one conservative that everybody rallies around.”

share001btn Luksik: I was here first

April 23, 2009 at 10:35 am

--Dan Hirschhorn

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  1. David Diano

    Apr 23rd, 2009

    “If [Toomey] wants to get in on top of me …”

    Do these Republicans even listen to what they say?

    I guess not, or they wouldn’t have been encouraging everyone to “teabag their Congressman”. LOL!!

    Actually, this is bad for Specter, unless the two over attack each other. They can both whittle away at Specter’s conservative credentials and force Specter to defend from two fronts.

    My prediction is that after damaging Specter, one of conservatives will drop out due to lack of fundraising and endorsements from the key right-wing groups, as they settle on a single Specter opponent in a backroom.

  2. Anonymous

    Apr 24th, 2009

    Russell’s Campaign Unauthorized Use of Fisher House Foundation name and logo.

    Russell’s campaign is now under investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office for referencing the Fisher House Foundation and it’s logo in the campaign literature and communications. Russell used these for his campaign event, “Bill Russell’s Hot Dog Day.” Fisher House told Russell they would not accept any proceeds resulting from this unauthorized event. Peg Luksik, Russell’s campaign manager, instructed his volunteer workers to take money at this event or to write a check to Fisher House and mail it to the campaign’s Post Office box. Neither the disbursements nor the receipts for Bill Russell’s Hot Dog Day have been reported to the Federal Elections Commission. Where is the money Russell and Luksik?

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