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Pa. candidates get involved in Mass. Senate race (Updated)

A surprisingly competitive U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts that could affect the outcome of health care reform legislation is drawing the interest of the Keystone State’s 2010 hopefuls—and prompting some of them to ask their own supporters to pitch into the fight.

As the race to succeed the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has tightened, operatives from both parties have been calling in whatever troops they can find. And candidates in Pennsylvania seeking to burnish their own party credentials have been happy to help.

Republican congressional candidate Steven Welch is hosting phone banks on behalf of GOP candidate Scott Brown on Sunday and Monday. In a Facebook message to supporters, Welch billed it as a way to “Stop Obamacare,” and set a goal to make 2,010 phone calls.

“Scott Brown has pulled within the margin of error in the past few days against his Democratic opponent, and the race is now a toss-up,” Welch wrote. “In short, a victory for Scott Brown will stop Obamacare in its tracks; and it will send a shock wave across Washington.”

On the Democratic side, Senator Arlen Specter e-mailed supporters Wednesday, asking them to “help protect Senator Kennedy’s legacy” by donating to state Attorney General Martha Coakley’s campaign.

And a campaign aide to Specter’s GOP opponent, Pat Toomey, e-mailed supporters Friday asking for their help in Brown’s campaign.

“Next week, voters in Massachusetts have an opportunity to fill a U.S. Senate seat that’s been held by one man for the last 47 years,” Toomey field director Peter Towey wrote. “Republican State Senator Scott Brown is running in an incredibly close election with his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. … Electing Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate next week will strip the Democrats of their filibuster-proof majority, provide a key 41st vote to stop a health care overhaul before a final passage vote and recapture a seat that’s been in Democratic hands for half a century.”

UPDATED: pa2010.com also hears that the state Republican Party is sending a bus of volunteers up to Massachusetts on Sunday to pitch in through the special election on Tuesday.

January 15, 2010 at 1:28 pm

--pa2010.com Staff

Tags: Arlen Specter, Martha Coakley, Pat Toomey, Scott Brown, Steven Welch

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