Toomey camp says it passed $1M mark, hires former Specter fundraiser

Republican Pat Toomey’s Senate campaign said Monday that it had raised over $1 million in its first 60 days, as the former Club for Growth president looks to solidify GOP support for a possible general election matchup with Senator Arlen Specter.

The campaign also said it had hired Louisa Boyd, Specter’s former finance director who quit the campaign when Specter switched parties in late April. Amy Petraglia and Carey Dunn, who have worked for Specter…

Toomey Campaign Breaks $1 Million in 60 Days—Hires Former Specter Fundraiser for Finance Director Post

By PAT TOOMEY FOR U.S. SENATE

ALLENTOWN, PA – Today, U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey announced a number of exciting fundraising developments.  The campaign has raised over $1 million in less than 60 days since Toomey declared his candidacy.  Over 11,000 individuals have contributed to the campaign already. Toomey also is pleased to announce the hiring of Arlen Specter’s former long-time Finance Director, Louisa Boyd, to fill its top fundraising position.

In addition, long-time Pennsylvania…

While I was away…

Back from Italy and nothing much seems to have changed in my absence. Joe Sestak continues to pick up support and money while Arlen Specter is essentially relying on President Obama and Vice President Biden to scare off opponents. Why don’t I think this is likely to work?

Pretty much no sign that the GOP has a strategy to deal with its problems or even understands them. Every day I get another invitation to a…

The First Read — June 15, 2009

Every Monday-Thursday morning, pa2010.com compiles the most important political news of the day, from newspapers to the blogosphere and back. Enjoy this edition.

Sign up for The First Read. And for all the latest news, log on to pa2010.com, your destination for Pennsylvania’s big 2010 elections.

Schenker says he’d step aside for Meehan in Lt. Gov. race
Republican Lieutanant Governor candidate Rick Schenker said that he would drop out of the GOP primary if gubernatorial…

Sestak: In his ‘heart of hearts,’ Obama wants a ‘real Democrat’ for Senate

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) has already said that President Obama can’t stop him from running for Senate. He added a new wrinkle this weekend, hypothesizing that Obama doesn’t really want to stop him anyway.

“I believe in his heart of hearts, he really wants a real Democrat to win this race, and I think he very much respects that we are pretty independent-minded in Pennsylvania and we should have a choice,” Sestak

The Knox camp gives us a spending number—Will it matter?

A while ago I interviewed Tom Knox and asked him how much he was willing to spend on his Democratic run for Governor. Knox, the wealthy Philadelphia businessman, wouldn’t give me an exact number, but made clear that his pWell, his campaign has given friend-of-the-site Alex Roarty more specifics, with campaign manager Josh Morrow saying his boss a href="http://www.politicspa.com/knox%20june%2012.htm" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.politicspa.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicspa.com%2Fknox%2520june%252012.htm','will+spend+between+%2420-25+million')" target="_blank"will spend between $20-25…

Schenker says he’d step aside for Meehan in Lt. Gov. race

Republican Lieutanant Governor candidate Rick Schenker said Friday that he would drop out of the GOP primary if gubernatorial candidate Pat Meehan opts for a run for Lt. Gov. instead.

In a brief interview with pa2010.com, Schenker, the former Erie County Executive, said he wanted to be Lt. Gov. and push important policy issues onto the public agenda. But he said he was under no illusions that a race against someone like Meehan would be…

Sestak continues late-quarter fundraising push

Determined to demonstrate political viability in his likely primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter, Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) continues to aggressively raise money in the days leading up to the close of fundraising period.

His latest entreaty came in a letter Thursday to supporters,

Preventing Fraud, Protecting Consumers

By CHRIS CARNEY FOR CONGRESS

Dear Friend:

Congressman Carney is hard at work everyday fighting for the people of Northeast and Central Pennsylvania, and I want to take this opportunity to share some of his recent accomplishments.

The Congressman was instrumental in the passage of the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights, which protects consumers from high interest rates and excessive fees. Congressman Carney co-authored and introduced an amendment to require 45 days notice of a…

RELEASE: Rep. Dahlkemper Condemns Violence at Holocaust Museum, Honors Security Officers

By THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSWOMAN KATHY DAHLKEMPER (D-3)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) spoke out on the House floor yesterday in support of H.Res. 529, a resolution condemning the violent attack on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10, 2009 and honoring the bravery and dedication of the museum’s employees and security personnel. The resolution passed the House 413-0.

Rep. Dahlkemper gave the following remarks during debate on the House Floor:…