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Republicans pick Burns for 12th District special election
LATROBE—Wealthy businessman Tim Burns easily won the Republican Party’s nomination for special election in the 12th Congressional District Thursday, setting up a May 18 showdown with Democrat Mark Critz.
Burns captured well over a majority of the votes from local party insiders at Saint Vincent College here, beating military veteran Bill Russell 85-46, according to preliminary vote tallies. Russell vowed to fight on in the primary to be held that same day. For Republicans, Burns’ victory gives them a candidate who can pour significant sums of money into his own campaign, in a special election that will be high on the national radar.
“We have an opportunity to put a common-sense conservative into a seat that was long held by an insider politician,” Burns said in accepting the endorsement. “Ever since I started this race almost a year ago, I said that I don’t claim to know how Washington works, because I don’t believe that it does.”
He immediately began to lay down the party’s argument against Critz, a longtime aide to the late John Murtha.
“The consistuents of this district now have a clear choice,” he said. “A choice between a longtime political insider and someone from outisde the broken system in Washington. “A choice between a bureaucrat and a businessman.”
Russell was supported by much of the party leadership, and the win clearly came as no surprise to either candidate. An aide to Burns was handing reporters press releases heralding his win the moment the voting ended, while Russell’s campaign put out a statement saying their candidate “was prepared” for the result.
“The party establishment has been saying all along that they prefer Tim Burns because he can write his own checks,” Russell said. “We’re not surprised. The party doesn’t want a candidate that’s connected to the people, they want one with money. While unfortunate, this was what we expected.”
Speaking to reporters afterward, Burns discounted the value of Critz’s experience from more than a decade as a congressional staffer.
“Critz has experience with a broken system that voters are looking to get away from,” Russell said. “I have common sense experience that this district and the state need.”
Three other candidates addressed the voting delegates seeking their endorsement, but none of them were formally nominated for consideration in the endorsement vote.
See a video clip of Burns’ victory speech below.
March 12, 2010 at 5:00 am
--John Manganaro and Dan Hirschhorn
Tags: Bill Russell, Mark Critz, PA-12, Tim Burns
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mdog
Mar 11th, 2010
Folks: Mr. Burns has said so often he doesn’t want the job, I believe him. He has never contributed a nickel to the GOP, he’s not even a great voter. How can a guy who is so out of touch, represent us. He thinks Murtha is unpopular here. He is a confirmed Murtha hater. We need representation that is going to fight for us, fight for jobs not just their pocketbook and membership to another country Club: The beltway Country Club.
John
Mar 12th, 2010
A friend of mine was a mailman in Fayette County a few years ago, which is in the 12th. He would tell horrible stories about how these people would send their children to run after his mail truck and ask “Our check come today?” That’s what the Democrats legacy in this district is. It has to be the poorest, most corrupt, most disfunctional district in PA. The Democrats should be ashamed to have ever represented that place. Yes, people there love John Murtha because he fed their kids and put a roof over their head. It’s better to get those things for free than have to work for them. PA-12′s motto should be: “What da gummint gunno do fo me?” Driving through that place makes me ashamed to be white.
mdog
Mar 12th, 2010
John: Obviously you must be one of those out of touch party officials or a member of the out of touch Burns campaign. Our voters in the 12th are hard-working people. They want a Congressman who is hard-working and who really wants the job. They want a Congressman who fights for economic development. The only dsyfunctionality is in the out-of-touch GOP that nominates candidates who don’t contribute to the party or its candidates ,don’t vote and say over and over again they don’t really want this important job for the future of the people in the district. People love John Murtha because he worked in a bi-partisan way to get things done to create jobs and left the Beltway partisan politics back in DC.
Bob
Mar 12th, 2010
mdog takes words out of context. Burns has said the he really does not want to be a Congressman, then follows it with he is running because he has a burning desire to help this country for the sake of all of our children. He was never a Murtha hater. True, he wanted to replace Mr. Murtha but never hated the man. Burns came from a hard working modest family. He worked hard to make his own company successful. He has never belonged to a country club or any other club for that matter. He is a political outsider, not a member of any political establishment. Burns will fight for the district and the future of the coutry. Let’s give the guy a chance instead of sour grape accusations.
Jerry P., PA
Mar 12th, 2010
Tim Burns lives a life like the Kennedy’s. Burns lives in a $3.5 million, 4200 sq.ft home in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. He moved out of Johnstown long ago. His parents moved out of Johnstown and now live in Venice, Florida. Guess the life wasn’t good enough for the Burns’ in Johnstown. His parents write him letters about how great his life must be living in his multi-million dollar home in his gated community. How many voters in the 12th District are living a life like Burn’s? Burns is out of touch with the 12th District. He is unelectable.
Mdog
Mar 12th, 2010
Bob: Of course Burns is Murtha hater. Haven’t you heard his speeches? He can’t recreate himself now. Mr. Burns is not ready for primetime. Boredom is not a good motivation to serve in Congress. Why did our party select him? He never gave a dime to the party and he couldn’t even vote while folks in harms way find time to vote. Was he selected at the Rolling Rock Country Club bar? Why has Burns shown such a lack of any political or civic leadership? As Colonel Russell has so clearly stated, Burns is not ready for prime time and we voters in the 12th should make sure his membership to the Beltway Country Club is rejected!!!
Steve
Mar 12th, 2010
Jerry P, he lives in Eight-Four. Are you even from the 12th? Go to Eight-Four and see how suburban it is. It’s not like he lives in Fox Chapel. You’re out of touch and your extreme left views are unelectable. I’m voting for Burns just to spite you.
Paul
Mar 13th, 2010
I have watched Mr. Burns. He seems less out of touch than all of Washington. He sees what is going on there and he wants to fix it. What better way to represent us by making sure that we have a country left at the end of the day.
IntelligentVoter
Mar 13th, 2010
Electing a guy who ran a successful company seems like a good thing to me….at least we’d know he knows how to read a balance sheet! Now THAT would be refreshing for a change.