Archive for May, 2010
Callahan targets Dent on bailout votes
Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan’s race against Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) doesn’t officially start until after Tuesday’s primary. But Callahan is laying the groundwork, and his campaign released its first Web ad of the campaign this week, hammering Dent for voting against the 2008 financial bailout bill only to change his vote when the measure was “loaded with pork projects.”
“Some fiscal conservative Dent turned out to be,” the 60-second ad says, underscoring Callahan’s efforts to…
Full StoryRussell: GOP thought Burns would be ‘more co-optable’
JOHNSTOWN—Bill Russell is either at the beginning or end of a journey he’s been on for more than two years. In 2008, he emerged as a staunch critic of Congressman John Murtha, after Murtha infamously said that Marines in Iraq had killed civilians “in cold blood.” He became a darling of the conservative grassroots. He lost that year, but when Murtha passed away this year, Russell was poised for success.
Then the Republican Party found…
Full StoryCritz: Election isn’t about Nancy Pelosi
JOHNSTOWN—As he’s sought to succeed John Murtha in the 12th Congressional District, Republican Tim Burns has doggedly tried to tie Democrat Mark Critz to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It’s fitting with GOP efforts to nationalize local races across the country, especially in the western Pennsylvania district where a figure like Pelosi is polarizing and unpopular.
Critz, for his part, says it won’t work, and misses the point anyway.
“Apparently, he’s running against Nancy Pelosi,” Critz…
Full StorySen. Vincent Hughes Endorses Onorato
By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR
PHILADELPHIA: State Senator Vincent Hughes, who has represented West Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania House and Senate for more than 22 years, endorsed Dan Onorato for Governor today. A graduate of Temple University, Senator Hughes (D-7) is the Caucus Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus and the former Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. His district, one of the most racially and economically diverse in the state, encompasses most of West Philadelphia,…
Full StoryBuchanan sounds a confident note against Rothfus
PITTSBURGH—Mary Beth Buchanan looked confident from behind the podium. She smiled at the small group of supporters gathered outside the Allegheny County Building here Friday, and began a speech in which she laced into her Republican primary opponent in the 4th District.
“I don’t think this is a close election,” Buchanan, a former U.S. Attorney, said later. “If you go out in the district, you’ll see that many people have no idea why Keith Rothfus…
Full StoryAbortion remains potent issue in 6th District, as NARAL voices neutrality
In the contest between Democrats Doug Pike and Manan Trivedi, the issue of abortion just won’t go away. The two candidates in the 6th Congressional District are battling for the votes of suburban Democratic women down to the wire before Tuesday’s primary. And in the process, things are staying very much heated.
The latest flare up came when the prominent group NARAL Pro-Choice issued a statement Friday clarifying that it has not endorsed either candidate,…
Full StoryOnorato’s one-day haul: $210K
Dan Onorato is burning through money at an extraordinary rate as he blankets the airwaves in a bid to win the Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday. But the Allegheny County Executive and primary front-runner is also still raking in cash on a daily basis.
Take Wednesday, for example. In one 24-hour period, Onorato’s campaign raised a whopping $210,000, according to state campaign finance data. The bulk of that money came from two sources: a…
Full StoryHuber loans campaign another $25K
The self-financing in the 3rd Congressional District is going down to the wire.
Republican Paul Huber, one of two Republican front-runners in the six-way primary field, loaned his campaign another $25,000 on Friday, according to campaign finance data. This came just days after Mike Kelly, Huber’s chief rival for the party’s nod to take on Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper, briefly surpassed Huber as the loan-leader in the race.
Huber has now loaned his campaign $325,000 and…
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