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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 Senator Specter,” Segal said in a campaign statement.

The campaign is launching the initiative during an afternoon event in downtown Philadelphia.

In case you missed it, I chronicle some of Specter’s history with the gay rights community in a City Paper cover story that hit newsstands this week.

Meanwhile, Republicans are still trying to make an issue of Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s (D-11) attendance at meetings of the state’s oversight commission for the economic stimulus package. An aide to Kanjorski’s likely opponent, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, claimed Kanjorski has missed 10 of 11 meetings, and hasn’t had anyone there on his behalf at most of them. But a Kanjorski spokeswoman said the Republicans have their facts wrong. She noted that staffers for Kanjorski have participated by telephone, and had documentation from the commission chairman to back it up.

“One of Congressman Kanjorski’s staffers has participated in every Stimulus Oversight Commission meeting via phone,” spokeswoman Abigail McDonough said, “including today’s meeting. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to get their facts straight.”

You can check out confirmation from the commission chairman here. We’re convinced.

And Democrat Doug Pike may have lost another county endorsement to 6th District primary opponent Manan Trivedi Thursday night, but he’s still racking up union support. Two unions backed Pike on Thursday, making a total of 17 who have endorsed him and/or contributed to his candidacy. The latest two were IBEW Local 126, the electrical workers’ union in Collegeville, and Laborers Local 158.

March 12, 2010 at 1:32 am

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Arlen Specter, Doug Pike, Lou Barletta, Manan Trivedi, PA-11, PA-6, Paul Kanjorski

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